Oscar de la Renta (Q4705)
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| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Oscar de la Renta |
business |
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2016
co-creative directors
design assistant
intern
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2013
temporary residency
designer
designer
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia’s Oscar de la Renta resort collection was photographed at the New York Botanical Garden, but the Bronx institution was more than just a pretty backdrop. Kim, who is the duo’s print aficionado, discovered the 16th century botanist and horticulturist Charles de l’Ecluse during her research this season. De l’Ecluse was famous for introducing the tulip to Holland. He also had a thing for mushrooms, and fungi pop up on a botanical jacquard that she used for a coat and a matching print that appears on a flowy shirtdress.In true Oscar fashion, this collection is abloom with all manner of flowers. They’re embroidered in large yellow sequins on a sky blue caftan and beaded onto a stretch tulle cocktail dress. Adriana DeBose wore a sleeveless version of the flowers-and-power mesh dress in look 32 to the Time 100 Gala last week, and blossoms also take the form of buttons of a tweed suit and shift dress. Garcia, for his part, was pleased with the quilting he used on colorful dresses and mini suits with petal-shaped cut-outs. The technique is more typical of long dresses for evening, he explained, but “cut-outs have become a go-to for our customer.”The Oscar de la Renta customer has a new surprise in store for her: flower printed leggings. These are a personal favorite of Kim’s. She’s teaching herself to garden because de la Renta was so fond of his own gardens in Connecticut and the Dominican Republic, but she’s still a 21st century woman and leggings are the current uniform. She paired them with a matching cape top or a coordinating second-skin turtleneck and cropped tweed jacket. Another nod at modern utility with a playful wink: a red leather dress whose puff sleeve gloves button off at the shoulder for a two-in-one look.
13 June 2022
In the new Oscar de la Renta video, models Jordan Daniels, Mayowa Nichols, Taylor Hill, and Barbara Valente play office types by day and party girls by night. They wear gingham checks in apple green or hot pink at the copy machine and sequins and tinsel at the Top of the Standard. A call from Britney Spears—”it’s Britney, bitch”—signals the end of the work day.The metamorphosis of this brand is complete, its target demo is now so solidly Millennial and Gen Z that the ladies who lunch who used to form the house base might not recognize it. That’s how brands evolve, of course. And after two years in various degrees of lockdown, cooped up kids and those who were recently kids are ready to let it all hang out. All week we’ve been hearing that party clothes are the big sellers of the moment. That goes for business at OdlR too. Since Billie Eilish wore Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim’s belle-of-the-ball gown to the Met Gala in September they’ve seen an uptick in younger customers.Their starting point for fall, they said, was Florence, Italy, and their discovery that the model for Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was a married woman that Renaissance propriety forbade him from painting. “Oscar loved a society drama,” Garcia chuckled. The city’s many marble floored palazzi inspired a print that combined florals, seashells, inlaid tile work, and pearls spilling suggestively off their strand that appeared on pouf-sleeved backless dress and matching hooded cape.Because the collection was in development in December, they crocheted echinacea flowers, which they were passing around in supplement form to friends with Covid, on a short shift dress. Bright colors were everywhere, on a leather coat, on velvet tailoring, on tinsel party wear. “They come to us for color,” Garcia said. “I’m allowed one black dress a season.” And the silhouette was mostly short. That’s partly down to who their clients are now and partly down to the state of the world; there are fewer galas than there were pre-pandemic, but Le Bain at the Standard is open for business.
17 February 2022
Oscar de la Renta, the brand, has a starring role in the debut episode of theSex and the Cityreboot,And Just Like That… Charlotte buys three dresses for her daughter’s piano recital: one for her, another for her budding pianist, and the third for her other daughter, a skateboarder who pairs the dress with a tuxedo T-shirt. The show is a big platform for the brand, and the message is obvious: There’s something for almost everyone at Oscar de la Renta, though this season does look more like your daughter’s OdlR than your mother’s.Designers seem particularly attuned to Gen Z tastes at the moment, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia included. Their pre-fall look book opens with a group of photos that recall Steven Meisel’s images of the ’90s supers in mini lengths that mostly, if not only, 20-somethings will be able to relate to. Kim confirmed that shorts suits are selling well for the label when a Gen Xer voiced skepticism. The spongy knit skirt suits have similar potential, being both sexy and effortless to wear.They carried that athletic, go-anywhere attitude into their eveningwear via party dresses that combined flippy, abbreviated skirts with second-skin knit bodices. But they served up some old-school drama too; it came in the form of a floral-print chiffon dress with a matching floor-length cape, a version of which Sarah Jessica Parker wore to theAnd Just Like That… premiere. There was also a matching pink minidress and cape embroidered all over with taffeta bows that seemed destined for some other celebrity moment and a creamy tulle confection of such OTT exuberance, it has Carrie Bradshaw’s name all over it.
10 December 2021
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia made a video for their new Oscar de la Renta collection. Most of their peers opted for the runway in this rebooted New York Fashion Week, but they believe in digital, Garcia especially. “It allows me to stretch my legs doing video, which I love,” he said at a showroom appointment, citing video’s reach as a motivating factor. “It allows us to cut our budget and expand our deliverables. Plus, videos are probably more captivating than still pics.”He described the spring 2022 clip as a celebration of New York energy. Five models including Irina Shayk and Candace Swanepoel run around the city, catching cabs, hopping the subway, and riding Citi Bikes, before convening in Bryant Park for an impromptu runway show. The Hiltons—Paris, Nicky, and their mom Kathy—make cameos, as do Kim and Garcia themselves. The biggest get was Billie Eilish, who gave the duo rights to use her song “Oxytocin.” In turn, they dressed her for the Met Gala tonight in an old Hollywood gown in the mode of Marilyn Monroe. She told the designers she wanted to be “the belle of the ball.”Kim got to indulge her own passion this season, too. During the pandemic she got into cooking, a pastime that the collection’s painterly prints pick up on: in one, her red kitchen table takes center stage; another features magnolia blossoms. Kim remembers eating magnolias as a young girl in Korea; they taste a little like ginger, apparently. “It’s very personal,” she said of the prints. “They’re what our life looks like on the weekends.”On the racks in the showroom, there was a push-pull between the intimacy of those prints and the drama of the evening dresses, some of which were made in raffia fringe as replacement for feathers. The designers are also going fur-free, at the urging of their superstar collaborator Eilish, who is an animal rights activist.
13 September 2021
Taylor Swift made history in the Oscar de la Renta pressed-flower minidress she wore to the Grammys, becoming the first woman to win Album of the Year three times. “That was a home run,” said Fernando Garcia. Unsurprisingly, Garcia and Laura Kim chose florals again for resort, only this time instead of three-dimensional embroideries, they superimposed photo prints of wildflowers on images of gardens shared by the landscape architect Miranda Brooks. On a strapless short dress with blossoming volumes of silk faille the effect was slightly surreal, maybe even lysergic.Garcia said Ugo Rondinone was a reference point. The electric citrine of a slim brushed-wool coat looked like it was lifted directly from the sculptor’sSeven Magic Mountainstotems. There were other tailored pieces in similarly vivid brights in the look book, but the collection as it was photographed here leaned toward special occasion dressing. Kim said that’s because in October and November, when this collection ships, the Oscar client tends to have a lot of big events, maybe this year more than ever as New York recovers from the pandemic. A taffeta gown cut in that can’t-fail-to-be-noticed Ugo Rondinone citrine, as voluminous as Swift’s minidress was fitted, went unpictured. Maybe that’s because we’ll be seeing it on another red carpet this summer. Cannes, perhaps.
11 June 2021
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia Zoomed in on Monday afternoon still high from their two Golden Globe cameos. Neither of their stars won, but both looked pretty: Amanda Seyfried wore an off-the-shoulder dress cut in the 1930s mold of the Marion Davies role she plays inMankandThe Flight Attendant’s Kaley Cuoco chose a princess gown embroidered with starbursts from their last fall collection.The peachy hue and floral detailing of Seyfried’s dress are in keeping with the duo’s new fall collection and they reported that their sales director had already received some pre-orders for the style. Even a socially distanced awards ceremony has the power to move product. (They’re also cutting it in white for their bridal line.)The three-dimensional nature of the flower embroideries in the look-book-opening minidress were the results of lockdown-time experiments with flower pressing and also store requests for summery clothes—this collection delivers long before fall actually arrives. A colorful flower print on a voluminous maxi dress and appliqués of crushed black taffeta on a peasant dress conjured the romance long associated with Oscar de la Renta without the formality that once defined the brand—this trend has become even more important in lockdown-time. Metal bow buckles accessorizing some of the tailoring were designed for a similar effect, to counter the sophistication with insouciance, but the designers are more comfortable with party frocks.Bows turned up on a pair of evening looks, too. The first paired a crystalized bustier with a smoking jacket and cigarette pants embellished with a tulle sash. The gown version was made with an eye to the eventual, hopeful return of IRL red carpets.
2 March 2021
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia are thinking optimistic thoughts for pre-fall. That’s not unexpected chez Oscar de la Renta, but to look at this collection compared to the one they showed last year at this time is to see a shifting sensibility: The colors are brighter, the prints are fruitier, and there’s definitely more skin.The pineapple motif comes from a look worn by Linda Evangelista in a 1992 Oscar collection; they’d noticed it before and never been interested in it, but after this pandemic year they wanted something “happy and light.” It appears as a block print on the hem of a halter dress and in life-like color on a bandeau top with pouf sleeves. “Piña coladas all day long,” Garcia riffed. Archival motifs of more recent vintage, circa spring 2014, say, were revived with new painting treatments.As at Carolina Herrera, another uptown brand taken over by a plugged-in millennial, the OdlR designers are getting behind thigh-grazing lengths in a big way; 2021 could be the year that the silhouette, which has been in the fashion atmosphere for a while now, really goes mainstream. Kim and Garcia like it for both day and night; beyond a generous array of shorts, there are knit ice-skater dresses, strapless cocktail poufs, and a playful striped romper.The collection continues to get more casual in other ways. The party dresses that used to be the delight of Oscar de la Renta’s shows have ceded to caftans, at least for the WFH time being. For novelty’s sake, they cut one caftan like a shirtdress and styled it unbuttoned (note the jeweled buttons) over shorts.
10 December 2020
The coronavirus pandemic put fashion production on hold back in March, shutting down massive factories and little studios alike. Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim were right in the middle of designing their spring 2021 bridal collection for Oscar de la Renta, which would have normally been shown to press and buyers in April. But lockdown made completing the collection “on time” nearly impossible, mainly because so many of their gowns rely on intricate hand-beading and embroidery in India. Unsure of when their artisan partners would be able to go to work, the duo had two options: to scrap the collection entirely, or get creative with the resources at hand.Garcia and Kim chose the latter, and turned the disruption into an opportunity to experiment with local production of simpler gowns—which 2021 brides may prefer, anyways. Some of their now-signature flourishes made reappearances here: the feathered high-low skirt, the angular bustier, the fern-cut lace, were all made in the ODLR atelier or in nearby Garment District studios. Kim was excited about a delicate new halter neckline trimmed in ivory leaves, and Garcia pointed out another clever development: a plain column with a garland of silk flowers draped around the shoulders. The garland is removable, so a bride might wear it for the ceremony and take it off to dance; consider it a new, fuss-free alternative to a capelet or wrap.
30 September 2020
Oscar de la Renta used to rant about post-work shows. “I think it’s incredibly rude to ask people to go at night,” he said. Yet there we were at the New York Public Library with the clock creeping towards 9:45 this evening waiting to see the new OdlR collection from Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia. Though Kim and Garcia have built up a lot of goodwill—not least of all with Scarlett Johansson’s scintillating look at the Oscars last night—the interminable wait at an hour when most of us would rather have been eating dinner or, heck, at home in bed put a damper on the proceedings.The 9 p.m. time slot was apparently chosen with intention: Kim and Garcia wanted to do “a party collection.” They referenced photos of Truman Capote’s famous 1966 Black and White Ball for Katharine Graham as inspiration, which de la Renta attended in a tux and furry black cat mask. From there, their backstory zigzagged via Caravaggio paintings to Disney’sFantasia.“The Sorcerer’s Apprenticeis very much what we were to Oscar, showing up in his studio, running amok, and creating things that would make him smile,” Garcia explained.If he would’ve disapproved of the setup—the Public Library’s long hallway made pacing an issue, to boot—they tried to stay true to the joie de vivre that was de la Renta’s signature. The daywear was distinguished by color blocking, and the bright hues were picked up in the chiaroscuro prints of a nice silk faille dress. But this collection was really all about cocktail and eveningwear.Fantasiafireworks decorated a fil coupe long dress and feathers embellished many others. And naturally, Johansson’s Academy Awards dress was reinterpreted in a handful of different ways. Next season, though, they’ll have to pick a more reasonable time and run a more organized show, or risk some RSVP’d regrets.
11 February 2020
“Quintessential.” Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia agree that this is a moment to focus on what the Oscar de la Renta brand stands for. “Everybody’s spending will be more frugal,” Garcia explained. “Whatever we do, it has to make sense for our business.” That goes for fashion shows—the designers will be sitting out NYFW in favor of a smaller presentation later in the season, and it also goes for the clothes they’re showing for resort.It’s a subtle reorientation. With home entertaining and garden parties replacing galas and other large events, the cocktail dresses and gowns the house has long been known for have been temporarily shunted to the side. In their place: a vibrant red silk taffeta caftan and another in a graphic stripe that still deliver the trademark OdlR glamour, but in a lower-key way. Elsewhere, they manipulated fabric with strategic cut-outs, say, or hand-painted florals to convey the sense of occasion that they once depended on lavish embroideries for. The ribbon straps that trim a series of silk faille dresses bring a new and not unappealing sense of deshabille to the collection.Tailoring, meanwhile, was designed with an eye to holiday dressing in gold Lurex tweed, or to warm-weather getaways in a jaunty checked tweed with bucket hats to match. Along withquintessential,the words they were working with wereplayfulandless serious.It’s not just OdlR clients who are longing for more of that.
21 August 2020
Typically Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia look to some far-flung location for inspiration at Oscar de la Renta. For pre-fall, they kept closer to home: The world of interiors was their starting point. Silk moiré of the sort used for curtains was cut into a sleek, vaguely ’70s-ish pantsuit and a one-shoulder gown with an effusive bow detail at the bodice, while wallpaper prints appeared on summery cotton frocks, as well as a more formal matching coat and fit-and-flare dress.The designers didn’t let themselves get too hemmed in with their theme. They launched a practically-minded ribbed-knit program this season and they worked with a lot of leather, too, cutting it into a short-sleeved jumpsuit, midi- and miniskirts, a pair of high-waisted, cropped pants.For evening, an A-line opera coat in a colorful floral jacquard with a black net overlay brought the polished drama De la Renta himself used to specialize in, but with a lightness that gave it a more youthful touch. A fitted column with crystal mesh coursing down one side—a “naked dress” in internet parlance—looked out of place here. Heritage and modernity came together more successfully in a strapless party dress fully embroidered with crystals.
16 December 2019
Less than a month transpired between Oscar de la Renta’s Spring 2020 ready-to-wear show in September and the label’s more low-key Fall 2020 Bridal appointments this week. Those of us who saw both collections will notice some intentional overlap, starting with the first looks: Olivia Vinten opened the NYFW show in a blush tulle minidress and orchid blazer, and both were recut for bridal in shades of ivory. The saffron bubble dress that appeared later in the ready-to-wear show was also reinterpreted here in white, as was the longer, grander red version.The takeaway isn’t that Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim are getting lazy; rather, they’ve nailed a sweet spot for dresses and gowns that work for many occasions, from cocktail parties to black-tie weddings. Some women will buy that saffron bubble dress for a spring gala, while brides will pick it up in ivory for their after-party. A girl who isn’t getting married anytime soon might just want that white tulle mini for her next vacation. The point is it doesn’t really matter if the tag says “bridal” or “ready-to-wear” these days.The other news this season was the duo’s continued effort to lighten things up. Short dresses are doing well for Garcia and Kim (mostly for those aforementioned wedding receptions), and a tiered ruffled pouf was light as air. The bigger, more princess-y gowns felt easy and free too: Garcia pointed out that a strapless style with sheer, cascading ruffles through the skirt was actually a riff on acobalt gownde la Renta first designed for Pre-Fall 2008. The original came in voluminous taffeta and was significantly heavier than the 2020 redux; this one will give a modern bride some room to breath—and dance!
8 October 2019
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia have been finding inspiration in travel and far-flung destinations lately. A year ago it was India by way of Morocco, then in February it was Córdoba, Spain. During the development for Spring 2020, it dawned on the duo that they hadn’t yet explored Mr. de le Renta’s native Dominican Republic. Voila, they had their starting point. “We really wanted to tap into the house’s Latin American roots,” said Garcia, who is Dominican himself.The Cunard Building was outfitted with potted palms and giant baskets bearing fruit. Though the designers mentioned Santo Domingo, this collection was less about a specific place than it was a state of mind. The early looks conjured getaway vibes with their ultrashort hemlines or generous caftan proportions. For Fall, they emphasized their tailoring; here, jackets played only a supporting role, topping a barely there wrapped chiffon minidress or a lace top and silk moiré party shorts set. Last season’s patchwork prints must have performed well, because Kim and Garcia revisited them in breezier shapes and lighter-weight materials.In general, the stronger the sense of hand and texture the better here. De la Renta would have recognized the very pretty embroidered linen dress and the woven raffia numbers. He might have been more surprised by the handful of short-in-front, long-in-back party dresses that closed the show, but Kim and Garcia know what they’re doing. Their young clients will doubtless appreciate them.
10 September 2019
Travel is a subject that Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia have talked a lot about in recent seasons. Research trips both IRL and online have been informing their Oscar de la Renta collections. For Pre-Spring, they looked to Japan with explorations of the mostly virtual sort, save for a visit to Kim’s favorite East Village udon restaurant, Raku. The curtains at Raku’s Sixth Street entrance were the starting point for the dip-dyed look of a tailored pantsuit, and of a long evening dress with ancient Grecian proportions. (A summer holiday to Mykonos is clearly also on their minds.)The Japanese references were handled subtly; they might not even register with customers. That’s partly because Kim and Garcia were interested in the moment when the country opened to Europe. Navy tailoring trimmed in gold bullion was apparently designed in the image of a mid-19th century Meiji emperor who adopted Western military attire, while the collection’s kimono evening coat and jacket were softly structured where authentic versions would have more sculptural forms. Japan’s make-do-and-mend tradition of wabi-sabi was interpreted obliquely on a patchwork pantsuit and more explicitly on a strapless corseted party dress that looked constructed from scraps of quilted indigo. That dress had a certain substantiality. As a rule, this duo prefers a more relaxed ease, which plays into their preoccupation with travel and the peripatetic lifestyles of their customers. Garcia was particularly taken with an ivory goddess dress, ephemeral in its aspect save for the gold chains that crisscrossed its bare back.
31 May 2019
The fact that the first look in Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim’s new bridal collection is a fringed minidress says a lot about their wedding business. For those who remember a few very similar dresses in their Spring 2019 and Fall 2019 ready-to-wear shows, it says even more. On the former note, brides are getting more comfortable experimenting with new lengths and silhouettes, and many of them are buying more than one gown for their rehearsal dinner or reception (where this mini would come in). At the same time, designers who work in both fashion and bridal are starting to break down the walls between the two worlds. Instead of establishing completely separate visions, they’re letting the standout pieces and themes from the runway influence their bridal lines and vice versa.Some of the Spring 2020 gowns took that quite literally, like the finale look: an abbreviated version of the duo’s white feathered gown from Fall 2019 (which Lupita Nyong’o later wore to this year’sVanity FairOscar party). Speaking of red carpets, the custom strapless ivory gown Regina King wore to accept her best supporting actress award inspired a column here with sculptural draping at the hip.That said, there were still brand-new numbers you likely won’t see on an Oscar de la Renta runway: classic ball gowns with scattered floral appliqués, a high-low dress with a tufted tulle train, and lace columns with XXL bows knotted in the back. Plenty of Oscar brides still want something quite traditional, but even the most “bride-y” dresses were lightened up to be easy to wear; Garcia said one of them weighed less than a pound. Why bother changing into a second dress when your first gown is so light, you forget you’re even wearing it?
12 April 2019
Travel is what’s animating Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia at Oscar de la Renta now. An October trip to Dubai to meet clients set them on their path for Fall. Backstage they shared a picture of Alex Bolen, the company’s CEO, playing the museum tourist there. The idea is less about a specific place than it is about celebrating the riches beyond the next closed door. That’s why they chose the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Spain, as the reference point for their set. They liked its layers of history, both Islamic and Christian. Presumably, De la Renta did too. Córdoba was a place he often visited, they shared.The show opened with sellable, polished tailoring. An extended riff on tweeds, menswear checks, and spice colors, it was true to the house heritage—De la Renta always opened with suiting, too—but streamlined for the current moment. The houndstooth sheath with a bias-cut inset of Prince of Wales check at the hem was winning. Daywear cycled into eveningwear via a series of carpet prints and carpet jacquards. The print dress was representative of the softer, lighter garments that are proving successful for Kim and Garcia among a younger clientele.Antique carpets were the dominant motif in the after-dark section. The designers worked the metaphor on a short cocktail number trailing fringe, on a strapless wrap with the ease of a sarong, and on a lovely sleeveless column in tufted fil coupe with a train that traced the flower borders. Texture and pattern played key roles in the other evening knockouts, which combined black tulle with jewel-tone laser-cut silk velvet. For the most part, Kim and Garcia moved away from the ball gowns of Oscar de la Renta collections past. Bella Hadid’s finale number retained those grand proportions, only with the arabesque tessellations of Islamic decoration for a design. New and old, far and wide—this formula is working for them.
13 February 2019
The evolution that Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia are overseeing at Oscar de la Renta is one that primarily concerns construction. Young women want softer, lighter garments. In tandem with that comes a certain offhandedness that might be unfamiliar to longtime clients of the label. “So we’re doing it slowly,” said Kim at a showroom appointment today.Inarguably, though, they feel emboldened now. Response to their Spring collection with its emphasis on Moroccan and Indian silhouettes was overwhelmingly positive, and Pre-Fall amplifies them. Garcia travels to Mumbai four times a year for business and he picks up a lot of fabric when he’s there. This season, he and Kim have explored traditional Indian menswear shapes, showing skirt-pant combos in lightweight printed silks under Western blazers. It was definitely a new look for Oscar de la Renta, but one that the designers feel that the house founder would’ve embraced. “Oscar believed in eclecticism in clothes, and so do we,” said Garcia. “We’re not American; we travel a lot for work. It feels natural and instinctual to us to do pieces that feeltraveled.”That sensibility extended into their eveningwear offering, where sheer tulle “naked dresses” were decorated with metallic gold threading or multicolor floral embellishments, and draped, bias-cut unconstructed numbers came in many iterations. Amid all that softness, an emerald green one-shoulder nipped-and-tucked taffeta party dress evoking the gussied-up glory days of New York in the 1980s looked freshest. At the new Oscar de la Renta, everything is fair game, and that’s another thing that’s likely to work in its favor with young shoppers.
10 December 2018
Two years after Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia’s arrival, Oscar de la Renta is a different label. The social X-rays who once decorated De la Renta’s front rows have been replaced by rap idols and reality TV stars, and the clothes in today’s show, staged on the rooftop terrace of Spring Street Studios under a misty rain, reflect that. The skirtsuits and fit-and-flare dresses that De la Renta lavished so much care on have been joined by sarong-style wraps and pajama sets and a relaxed, new approach to evening that includes strapless bustier “going out” tops and tailored pants.That’s not to say De la Renta and his old-line customers wouldn’t recognize the looks that came down the runway. Backstage, the duo related that the patchwork scarf print was sourced by Kim from a textile mill in Como, Italy, that archives the late designer’s fabrics, and that the densely embroidered red blooms on a number of pieces hail originally from a vintage OdlR show. The oversize ikat patterns looked like something he could relate to as well. But equally, Kim and Garcia used their own experiences as reference points. There were easy Moroccan silhouettes because Kim spent her summer holidays there, and draped, sari-like Indian ones because that’s where Garcia was headed. Not coincidentally, Kim said that soft-construction dresses are outpacing the house signature fit-and-flare shapes on sales floors. Circa 2018, life is a whole lot less formal than it was when De la Renta was making his way.But rap idols and reality TV stars do need special-occasion clothes. Nicki Minaj cheered on Gigi and Bella Hadid from the front row. The look that really got her attention, however, was a black dress with a fitted beaded bodice and a skirt of swishy silk fringe from hip to ankle, accessorized by an extravagant wrap of jet ostrich plumes. That one had her name on it.
11 September 2018
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia are known experimenters. A case in point being the semi-sheer wedding gowns in their very first Oscar de la Renta bridal show last April. Sexy dresses are a departure for the Oscar bride. In fact, any flash of skin usually registers as scandalous in the bridal market as a whole. You’re either a “naked-dress designer” or you’re really, really not. Kim and Garcia listen to their customers, though, and today’s Oscar bride is apparently going straight for those see-through tulle skirts and transparent bustiers. If anything, the dresses are getting sheerer. Some girls will add linings or slips, but Kim and Garcia have a light hand, so the gowns come across as ethereal, not straight-up seductive.For Spring 2019, nearly every dress had a sheer touch—a transparent sleeve here, a mesh bustier there, or, in one case, a completely unlined V-neck gown with matte floral embroideries. Flowers are quintessentially “Oscar,” and Garcia and Kim’s interpretations range from humble ferns and vines to 3-D blooms, which they arranged over tulle for clever coverage. Tumbling vines concealed a gown’s see-through skirt, for instance, while petal embroideries floated along the sheer bodice of a long-sleeved number with a satin skirt. It was still a bit racy, but it was also precisely what Kim said her bride wants: a gown that’s “effortless, yet grand.”
2 July 2018
Back in January, Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia received a call from Meghan Markle about a wedding day look for her mother Doria Ragland. “She knew she wanted a pistachio or melon look for her mom,” Garcia remembered. The house of Oscar de la Renta has surely dressed many mothers-of-the-bride over the decades, Hillary Clinton included, but royal weddings are another thing entirely. It was a huge coup for the duo, and if it hasn’t immediately resulted in a boost in sales, as Meghan’s own choices do, it has at least raised the designers’ profiles. “I got a lot of new followers,” Kim said.Capitalizing on the timing of the wedding, they presented a Resort collection today that featured pastel hues in the same family as Ragland’s pistachio coat and dress, with similar Wedgwood-esque white floral embroidery. These were ladylike and pretty, faultlessly so; and watching the show you wished for a little of Ragland’s edge. Let’s just say there were no nose studs in evidence.That quibble aside, Kim and Garcia have honed their approach. Aaliyah’s “Try Again” played at the finale, which felt like a pointed choice. At the trunk shows the company organizes around the country, their Fall collection has been their most successful so far, and this one, like that one, honored Oscar’s legacy with millennial updates. The most evident among them were the suit jackets paired not with pants but walking shorts—shorts being the purview of the young. Backstage they pointed out another novelty: the abundance of soft dresses. “We haven’t done a lot of them so far, but girls want softer clothes,” Kim said. This holds true for night, as well as day. The evening dresses had an unmistakable ease and there wasn’t a gown (in the long-to-the-floor, formal sense of the word) in the bunch. A billowy skirted dress with a raw dip-dyed hem could even almost qualify as edgy.
23 May 2018
What should Oscar de la Renta look like in the late 2010s? That’s the question Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia have been dancing around since they were named creative directors at the house a little less than two years ago. The designers are uniquely positioned for the job: 1) They worked alongside Mr. De la Renta in the atelier, and 2) they’re millennials, and therefore in tune with the wants and needs of that hard-to-pin-down, yet essential-for-future-success demographic.Leading a heritage label forward is a careful balancing act (a fact Wes Gordon will learn as he takes over for Oscar’s contemporary Carolina Herrera after her swan song tonight). Today was Kim and Garcia’s third runway go-round and a confident step forward for the duo. Oscar stalwarts will recognize the familiar fit-and-flare silhouettes of these party dresses, but their sheer lace bodices will speak to a younger generation.More so than their previous attempts, this season’s collection had its roots in the De la Renta archive. If it’s a conservative approach at a moment when experimentation is paying off elsewhere—see Kim and Garcia’s other label, the buzzy Monse—so be it. De la Renta had a successful business for the decades that he did because he loved making women look beautiful, not directional or edgy.At its base, this was a pretty collection, abloom with flower prints and embroideries, and featuring rich textures from lustrous velvet to nubby raw silk. It was inspired, the designers said, by memories of a trip they took with Oscar to The Cloisters to see—or rather hear—a Janet Cardiff sound installation. That led them to “enchanted forest” tapestries and the Elizabethan era, which they handled lightly and rightly, save for some quilting here and there and a few hyperbolic bows. The collection’s strength was its eveningwear, as it often was De la Renta’s. Celebrity stylists will be lining up for the dress with the black velvet bodice and billowing printed Chine skirt.
12 February 2018
Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim staged their Oscar de la Renta Pre-Fall presentation at the Picnic House at Pier 40 last Thursday. It was a brisk but sunny morning, and the Hudson and the skyscrapers on either side of it glimmered. The location was chosen specifically for the collection they designed. Garcia said they were thinking about the season, six months in the future, when these clothes will arrive in stores: summertime at the seaside. Seagulls flocked, as a print on a shirtdress, as embroidery on a peplum tunic, and as intarsia on a mink coat. And fish (or rather fish bones) schooled, first as shoulder-duster earrings and later as a large laser-cut leather appliqué on a tulle gown. A little of this will go a long way—nautical miles—but there were subtler interpretations of the theme, like a postcard-print cowl-back blouse and matching spiral-seamed skirt, as well as “fishnet” sweaters, that will be easier for the landlubbers in the crowd to embrace.Better were the pieces that bypassed the theme altogether. Garcia and Kim have shown themselves to be quite handy with shirting at their other label, Monse. Here, they gave it an Oscar flair, cutting the shirts in starchy white poplin and adding dramatic cuffs. A black wool crepe dress with pearls embroidered on its three-quarter sleeves was pretty faultless, as was its slim coat twin. The other outerwear here was grand in a way that Mr. De la Renta might have recognized, yet modern, too. A reversible ivory shearling would’ve been just the thing for the chilly trip from the pier back to the office.
11 December 2017
Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim are well versed in bridal from their time spent at Oscar de la Renta the first go around, before they left to start Monse and were subsequently brought back to ODLR as co–creative directors. Less than a year later, their bridal collections might not get quite the hype of their dual ready-to-wear shows, but for brides-to-be, an Oscar gown is the ultimate. And it’s an area Garcia and Kim feel confident working in. Garcia helped design custom gowns under Mr. de la Renta himself, including Amal Clooney’s back in 2014.As young New York designers, Garcia and Kim also understand what the modern bride wants, not least because she’s probably their age. For instance, they’ve noticed today’s bride is going to the gym and taking care of herself, so she’s into revealing details like a sheer bodice or skirt. The back continues to be the erogenous zone of choice: For Fall 2018, several gowns came with deep, scooped-out backs, balletic lace-up details, or tasteful flashes of skin. Fashion types will also notice the rose tulle dégradé gown mirrors a similar look from the duo’s recent ready-to-wear show, and there was also a relaxed ivory suit, which a bride might wear to a rehearsal dinner. A few other dresses were straightforwardly, indisputably pretty, like the sweetheart gown with a full skirt and petal appliqués. Kim described it succinctly: “very Oscar.”
22 November 2017
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia chose Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries for their sophomore Oscar de la Renta show, separating it from their Monse presentation, which took place last week. It’s smart to put both physical and metaphorical distance between their two collections. The designers trained at Mr. De la Renta’s side and were installed as co-creative directors last year, but they were still fairly green when they made their debut in February. That show was met with mixed reviews, not least of all because there are real questions about the best way forward for heritage brands like Oscar de la Renta. Honor the house founder? Modernize his legacy? Reject it outright? Everyone has a different idea about what the right balance is.Kim and Garcia are still trying to figure out the balance for themselves. Their points of reference for Spring were Pop Art and a trove of letters Mr. De la Renta wrote, along with thank-you notes that the young designers have received from starlets like Emma Watson and Elle Fanning. Mr. De la Renta himself was never as brazen with his motifs, and Kim and Garcia were quite literal, from the paint splatter–print button-downs and paintbrush-heel pumps to the signature prints on tailoring and huge block letters picked out in sequins on a strapless party dress. Put it this way: Oscar’s name was all over these pieces, but his aesthetic really wasn’t. The Oscar de la Renta purists are likely to object; the kids, on the other hand, could possibly get into it. The frayed and faded denim, the sheer dresses, the bathing suits and furs, and yes, those logo prints.The daywear was a departure—like a different galaxy departure—but the designers were true to their Oscar de la Renta training with the evening dresses. There were some pretty numbers in colorful dégradé tulle and a few more in black tulle lightly traced with silver sequins. Still, Kim and Garcia’s Oscar de la Renta is a work in progress.
11 September 2017
Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia booked a seventh-floor roof garden at Rockefeller Center for their Oscar de la Renta Resort presentation. Earlier in the week rain was forecast, but the sun beat down obligingly this morning. The collection suited its environs, what with its palette of citrusy orange and palm green and the tropical prints and jacquards found on day and evening dresses. Optimism is baked into the Oscar ethos; Garcia said they thought the late designer would approve of the playful monkey who sipped champagne on the back of an embroidered jean jacket. The denim was a definite first chez de la Renta. If the couture-ish jean jackets seemed like a leap (indeed, a very playful one), the square-cut, full-legged denim pants in a faded blue wash were utterly in keeping with the brand's signature silhouette.Negotiating between the past and the present is the task at hand for Garcia and Kim. Coming off a Fall 2017 debut, Garcia said they were keen to loosen up a bit. Their tweed dress took a white denim jacket rather than a matchy-matchy tweed style. But their casualification of house codes only went so far. There were plenty of cocktail numbers and gowns for the holiday party circuit, a category that has been historically important here. In the mix, an ivory twist neck column with jet crystal roping detail at the neck stood out as the most modern.
2 June 2017
It wouldn’t be an Oscar de la Renta show without flowers. The late, great designer was known for his gorgeous floral lace, 3-D flower petals, and painterly prints, all inspired by his own spectacular gardens. For their first bridal show, co-creative directors Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim paid sweet tribute to that—not just with flowers, but with delicate ferns, vines, and leaves, too. Decorating the bust of a strapless gown or trailing down a light, floaty sheath, the results were classic Oscar: elegant, but not stuffy, and undeniably feminine.Garcia and Kim are experimenters, though, and had a few new ideas for the Oscar bride. There was a jumpsuit with a lace bustier, which mirrored a look from their Fall ’17 ready-to-wear collection; a relaxed ivory suit with a sequined corset; and one dress Kim referred to as their “ode to Sarah Jessica Parker.” Stitched into the crinoline skirt was an oversize Oscar de la Renta logo, just like the one on Parker’s De la Renta gown at the 2014 Met Gala. Garcia and Kim’s version was styled under a white denim jacket with “Just Married” embroidered on the back. The combination certainly isn’t for every bride, but girls looking for the kind of timeless, romantic gowns you typically associate with ODLR won’t be lacking for options, either.
22 April 2017
Things did not start well at Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia’s Oscar de la Renta debut tonight. A curtain failed to open, which prevented half the audience from seeing anything more than intermittent glimpses of the models as they walked by.Garcia and Kim worked with Mr. de la Renta for many years before his death in 2014. They left the brand when Peter Copping was brought in as creative director and subsequently launched and have had some success with their own label, Monse, in the interim. After Copping’s abrupt exit last July, they were brought back into the company fold and sat front row at the studio-designed Spring show in September. This evening, in what qualifies as a first for the industry, they sequentially presented Fall collections for Monse and Oscar de la Renta in the same venue. They’ve been charged with bringing some youthful verve to the Oscar brand—with freshening it up. Despite their training and the many months of prep time, this was a disappointing first attempt.True, it captured the dressed-up sensibility that was the house founder’s calling card, and, yes, it had a more freewheeling sense of pace than the stately Oscar processions of old—those were points in its favor. But it lacked in finesse and a certain degree of taste. The strappy sandals were painfully difficult to walk in. Colors were often garish. And some of the pieces, well, it was a real puzzle what they were doing on an Oscar runway—a multicolored diagonally striped sweater and matching leggings come to mind. Where Oscar’s parade of evening dresses used to surprise and delight in its variety, this failed to do so.Kim and Garcia have the goodwill of many, so the thing to do now is put this behind them, and book a sunnier space for what will no doubt be a stronger sophomore collection.
13 February 2017
In the absence of Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim—the Monse designers will make their Oscar de la Renta debut in February at the Fall ’17 shows—Alex Bolen, ODLR’s CEO, spoke to editors before the Pre-Fall presentation this morning. “A journalist recently lamented that nobody dresses up anymore,” he began, “but at Oscar we think women do dress up, and that’s what we tried to do here.”The collection’s roots are in photographs Mario Testino took of native Peruvians, which were exhibited at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in 2013 and 2014. “Oscar loved them,” Bolen stated. Designed by the in-house team, the new clothes are not as evocative or literal as the costumes in the pictures, but they are clearly linked via surface details like embroideries and rich, earthy hues, and by silhouettes such as bell-sleeved peasant blouses tucked into belted midi skirts. Those airy, away-from-the-body ensembles were juxtaposed with dresses in fine-gauge knits that, while utterly decorous, had a bit more cling. The evening offering was narrowly focused on strapless midi dresses with minimal embellishments, which made the black Chantilly lace gown and matching lace bolero stand out. In all likelihood, Garcia and Kim will take the more freewheeling, multiple-choice approach to special-occasion dressing that De la Renta used to.If this show confirms anything about dressing up now, it’s that it is much more casual than it was in De la Renta’s earlier days. Even the evening numbers were paired with delicate flat slides.
8 December 2016
For those unacquainted with the gardens ofOscarand Annette de la Renta, the sprawling greenery of the late designer’s various homes mirrored neatly his unflagging eye when it came to design, too. This season, sans creative director (with Peter Copping departed and newly minted duo Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia not yet instated at the time of its creation), the studio team dreamed up a bridal offering inspired by all manner of flora.Three-dimensional blossoms fluttered atop the fitted bodice of a strapless sheath number, or tumbled down the front of a frothy tulle number, while elsewhere, blooming vines snaked along a full ball-skirted style. Even a minimalist bride could likely appreciate a long, trailing floral lace cape (particularly when styled back to a spare, strapless column gown). A richly embroidered, tailored coatdress worn atop a slip was particularly stunning—though for a more behind-the-scenes brand of wow factor, a high-low hem number took the cake: Its lush embellishments took De la Renta atelier workers, all told, about 180 hours to produce.
13 October 2016
News broke on the Friday before Labor Day that Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia of Monse are the new creative directors ofOscar de la Renta. The duo worked alongside Mr. de la Renta and launched their fledgling label after Peter Copping was selected as the late designer’s successor. Kim and Garcia, who will continue to design Monse alongside their new OdlR duties (not an easy task), took in today’s show from the front row; they’ll make their Oscar debut early next year. The Spring collection presented at the Morgan Library this afternoon was designed by the studio team, 10 members of which came out to take a bow at the finale. It was a feel-good moment for the brand ahead of Kim and Garcia’s homecoming.There’s no substitute for a distinct point of view, but the design team has a fine handle on the house Oscar-isms. They touched on many of them here: the knit skirt suit, the safari jacket, the peasant dress. Of course, there was also a full complement of cocktail frocks and evening dresses. Not everything had the refinement of fit that we expect from this label; the safari shorts set comes to mind, as does the off-the-shoulder closing number in pintucked pink silk taffeta. But for a placeholder collection, this had some charmers—a cayenne red strapless silk faille number with a ruffled hem, and a black dress liberally stitched with pearls that looked particularly Oscar-y, among them. With flat, sometimes bejeweled, sandals for accessories, the show had a breezy, youthful, not-too-serious tone. The real business of renewing the house founder’s legacy will begin next February.
12 September 2016
True toOscar de la Renta’s legacy,Peter Copping’s new Resort collection for the brand had a sunny disposition. With the exception of a fabulous white halter gown with flowers creeping up the hem, these weren’t necessarily takeaway clothes, but with their zesty colors and lively prints they could make a girl feel as good as a wintertime vacation on the beach.Copping called the collection eclectic, a fitting description for the patchworks of prints and jacquards inspired by fabrics found in the ODLR archives, but he meant it, too, in terms of the breadth of the offering. “It’s in stores for a long time,” he explained. “It covers a lot of bases.” Indeed, it touched on a lot of the house signatures, from nipped-waist skirtsuits, broken up here in mismatched tweeds, to lacy little cocktail frocks to all manner of occasion dresses. Two gowns worth special attention included a column in colors as exuberant (clover green and fuchsia) as its silhouette was restrained, and a strapless red silk taffeta style with a draped bodice and exposed seam allowances on its voluminous, asymmetric skirt. A tiered silk crepe dress was less grand than either of them, but its hand-painted polka dots showcased Copping’s eye for the exquisite detail.
19 May 2016
CouldPeter Coppingmake a romantic out of any of us? His ready-to-wear collections forOscar de la Rentathus far would seem to suggest so, earning the affections of even decidedly downtown types. He deftly walks a line between the ladylike codes of Mr. De la Renta and a softness that’s anything but patrician. Backstage at the house’s latest bridal outing, Copping emphasized no particular précis, but rather the importance of creating confectionary pieces for “lots of different women.” He stressed, too, a feeling of modernity. Consider an ivory column gown in silk faille teamed with a coordinating mink-tufted argyle bolero scattered with pearls, or a silk crepe shift—wholly bare, save for embellishments in feather and crystal along the hemline. His more overtly extravagant designs were equally winning; after all, some well-deployed drama goes a long way. You’d be hard-pressed to argue with one of the closing looks, a stunning beaded ivory faille number whose hemline crested high, almost sculpturally, at the hip to reveal a froth of tulle beneath. The effect? Nothing short of exquisite.
18 April 2016
In 1973,Oscar de la Rentawas one of five American designers to go up against their Parisian counterparts at the Battle of Versailles. Princess Grace was in the audience, and so was Andy Warhol. The legendary event is remembered as a turning point in fashion. The Americans had barely any money, but they had chutzpah, and by dint of will (and a fabulous cast of African-American models) they stole the show. “It was about modernity and the minimalism of American sportswear versus French tradition,” saidPeter Coppingat a showroom preview today. The designer, who arrived at De la Renta a little over a year ago, has made a deep study of the house founder’s archives and history. You could say that modernity and tradition are the driving forces of his work for the label.The Versailles battle gave Copping a literal framework for his new Fall collection. He juxtaposed high-tech sportif fabrics with 18th-century-inspired ones, as in the case of a strapless bustier in stretch wool with the snap of a bathing suit accompanied by a dove gray taffeta ball skirt. And he used age-old dressmaker techniques like corsetry boning not just on silk damask, but on unexpected materials like leather. Copping was a knitwear innovator atNina Ricci; one of his most modern touches here was the tissue-thin sweaters (totally seamless, thank computers) that he paired with skirts and layered under shift dresses and skirt suits.Held up to the very high standards of his breakthrough Spring season, the early part of this show fell a bit flat. Partly it was the color palette, which wasn’t nearly as vibrant as the carnation red, marigold, and turquoise ofSpring. Copping probably also erred somewhat too minimal on those second-skin sweaters. But he made up for the slow beginning with some beautiful cocktail numbers and gowns. As a rule, these leaned more toward the Versailles, couture, 18th-century side of his equation, and they included a Bordeaux silk draped bustier worn with a weightless toile de Jouy organza skirt shot through with tinsel, a strapless black dress hand-stitched with gold metal thread and boasting heat transfer crystals, and a dusty rose floral jacquard draped gown accessorized by a choker that fastened in back with a matching dusty rose taffeta bow. In this battle, as it were, tradition won, but Copping is still tinkering with his ODLR formula: We’re looking forward to next time.
16 February 2016
Peter Coppingwas quick to point out that Pre-Fall marks a full cycle; he’s been atOscar de la Rentafor a year. In fashion time, 12 months go by in a flash, and Copping has made himself at home at the label rather quickly. The gorgeous collection he showed today follows an equally terrific Spring outing, but where that one had a Spanish flavor, this one owed a debt to his adopted home: New York, and by extension, America. “I wanted the collection to look like a patchwork, a rich mix, because that’s what I find America to be,” he said, explaining that he studied U.S. artists, Hollywood stars, and stylish Americans of all stripes for inspiration. Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, andMadonnamingled on his mood board.As much as the lineup looked like any one of those icons, though, it also looked like de la Renta. The Oscar vocabulary is proving to be a boon for Copping, giving him a useful framework to modernize and build upon. The house signature skirtsuits and cocktail fare made appearances, but so did new looks with a cooler or more casual appeal, pieces like a zip-front, ruched-waist black dress or a fitted camel sweater with gold button detailing tucked into an A-line black skirt. A floral-print silk blouse worn with a pencil skirt in a slightly different print stood out for its Warhol-bright blooms.As a rule, these lookbook pictures don’t do Copping’s palette justice. The yellow of a strapless column dress was tartar in real life; the light green of an embroidered evening sweater worn with a sparkly bordeaux skirt was mintier. Speaking of unusual color combinations (a penchant of both Copping’s and de la Renta himself), one of the prettiest evening dresses combined a bodice of petal pink paillettes with a long narrow skirt in red poppy and black. Expect to see it and some of its red carpet sisters on the awards show circuit.
10 December 2015
For his sophomore bridal outing at Oscar de la Renta,Peter Coppinglooked to some of the same elements that made his Spring ready-to-wear collection one of the season’s most highly regarded. The delicate petal-like construction of a bodice reappeared on a bustier-topped gown; his Latin-inspired flounced capelet came to life in an exquisite frothy lace. As on the runways, so in bridal is lingerie having a moment, but Copping opted to forgo a literal take in favor of, say, the sensuality of an airy high-neck bib (another holdover from his Spring catwalk), to be worn under a strapless number. Pieces like the languid tiered dress summed up Copping’s winning formula at the house so far: unfussy but unfailingly feminine, refined but never too practiced—a certain sprezzatura.
13 October 2015
Possibly, it seems ridiculous to begin a fashion show review with a discussion about the precisely desirable color of a carnation. Yet it is a fact that there is a vast gulf of taste between a deli-cum-gas-station pink or white type of a carnation, and the deep, deep, almost cinnamon-dark kind of a red carnation, whichOscar de la Rentapicked for his daily buttonhole when he was a young man living in Madrid. But the fact thatPeter Copping, Oscar’s successor, picked up on that color, and its resonances, is a perfect testament to his suitability for the job. He, like Oscar, has a phenomenal eye for color and social tone.“Apparently,” said Copping before the show, “they used to throw red carnations into the ring after a bull fight.” Which explains the presence of carnation prints in various sizes that Copping scattered on dresses, swathed skirts, and frilled blouses, and the fact that he saturated an eyelet dress in the color of Oscar’s favorite flower.Copping was partially inspired by his discovery that De la Renta had met Ava Gardner, whose lover was a bullfighter, in the 1950s. But to research the Spring collection, he had also been up to the Hispanic Society of Harlem to look at their paintings surrounding bullfighting—he took in everything from the pale blue satin of a matador suit painted by Goya, to the exact shade of baked yellow Francis Bacon used in a bullfighting scene, to “the colors of peasant wool embroidery on popular Spanish postcards,” said Copping. Then he let it all percolate in his imagination, and came up with a collection that thoroughly proved his own powers as a colorist, and as a designer who brings the finesse of Paris with him from all the years he worked atLouis VuittonandNina Ricci.The combination of respectfulness for the founder and pure personal flair made for a collection that succeeded in making every woman present at the show want to be part of Copping’s ravishing modern view of femininity and sexuality. The sight of his models, scrubbed andgroomed with matte red lipstick, their hair brushed smoothly into ponytails with low grosgrain ribbon bows, made fashion’s prevailing messy no-makeup grungy beauty suddenly look a whole lot less desirable at a stroke.
It was not just a question of the breathtaking color choices, which ran from saturated to pastel—say, emerald green duchesse satin for a skirt suit with a narrow powder pink belt, or the grass green embroidered shoes under a mint gazar dress—but also of Copping’s ability to undercut froth and frills with a modernizing casualness. He did that by putting suits with jet-embroidered flat espadrilles, by tying black ribbons nonchalantly into incredible lilac and ice-blue ball gowns, and by daring to show glimpses of naked skin through black lace. In a word, it was faultless.
16 September 2015
Peter Copping has had six months to osmose the Oscar de la Renta aesthetic. In conversation a week before this morning's mini show, he said he's done that mostly by talking to De la Renta's close associates and, to a somewhat lesser degree, by studying old dresses. Either way, it's working. The Resort collection he presented today, his third if you count a bridal line shown in April, felt very much on message for the house. In a gesture that De la Renta—who liked a good chat at his Resort and Pre-Fall presentations—would have approved of, Copping introduced the collection: "I wanted to embrace color, pattern, and the house's general joie de vivre." And as promised, the clothes were bright, generous with embroideries, and blooming with flowers and ruffles.He started with the signature De la Renta blouse-and-skirt sets and coatdresses, cinching nearly all of them with a tidy leather belt. His skirtsuits were ladylike, not businesslike, with flounced lapels and hems. Copping loved a little knit during his Nina Ricci days and he showed one or two of them here with neat and trim pencil skirts. Freshest of all for day were a coat and a knee-length skirt pieced together from narrow bands of suede and leather. Their strong, graphic appeal felt new for both De la Renta and Copping. But as was often the case with De la Renta's shows, the collection really came alive when Copping turned to evening. A fuchsia off-the-shoulder top separated by a red belt from a long, white skirt embroidered with golden yellow sequins exemplified his exuberant use of color, while a cocktail number with a sequin-strewn bodice above a brushstroke floral print struck a real chord of whimsy. A pair of strapless taffeta gowns, short in front and trailing ruffles in the back, captured De la Renta's flair for drama but retained a youthful, playful spirit. They'll be popular on the party scene this winter.
28 May 2015
Founder: Oscar de la RentaYear established: 1965Known for: Classic and refined gowns, the epitome of high-society eleganceFamous brides: Amal Clooney, Kate Bosworth, Huma Abedin, Jenna Bush Hager
20 April 2015
Tonight was the night. Peter Copping, Oscar de la Renta's handpicked successor, made his runway debut. On one side of the catwalk arrayed to the left and right of Oscar's widow, Annette, were dames like Barbara Walters, Nancy Kissinger, Mica Ertegun, and Mercedes Bass—honest to goodness buy-a-dress socialites as opposed to the borrow-a-dress socialites fashion manufactures for the front row nowadays. On the other side were BFFs Taylor Swift and Oscar favorite Karlie Kloss wearing coordinated, colorful frocks and attracting the eyes of everyone in the room. The symbolism was potent. The brand's past and its future gathered together to witness the changing of the guard and to pass judgment.De la Renta and Copping were to have worked side by side, but de la Renta's death, just days after Copping was appointed last October, prevented that. Copping left a type-written note on each seat: "I am immensely proud to have been chosen as the creative director of Oscar de la Renta," he began. "Unfortunately things did not go according to our plans and I never had the chance to work with Oscar, which is something I deeply regret." Instead of learning by doing, Copping leaned on people who had worked with the late designer: his longtime sales director Boaz Mazor, former team member Carolyne Roehm. "We shared a lot of common territory," Copping said at a preview. "The sort of woman we appreciate, and going beyond that, gardens, homes, all of that sort of thing: We speak the same language." The stylist Alex White, whom Copping worked with during his five years at Nina Ricci, happened to have styled de la Renta's shows for a handful of seasons. She provided a helpful bit of continuity, as well.Still, the pressure on Copping is immense. In his early days on the job he witnessed an enormous outpouring of emotion—not to mention media attention—at the passing of de la Renta, who was a larger-than-life personality and an icon well known from Hollywood to Capitol Hill. On top of that, Copping had just three months to put together the collection, significantly less time than he's used to. Those challenges aside, he did a fine job honoring de la Renta and the house that he has inherited. Nina Ricci, Copping's previous house, shares the same feminine codes as his new home, and that worked to his advantage. The coatdresses and skirtsuits that he opened with were as elegant as those of his predecessor, and as luxurious.But the collection didn't feel overly reverent.
Copping has watched enough revivals in Paris to know that the past can only take you so far. He infused the evening pieces with a certain youthfulness by using unlined lace for bodices, and working on new necklines. Some of the grander ball gowns could've used more fine-tuning. But if the fit on those numbers wasn't quite as finessed as longtime Oscar followers remember, Copping demonstrated his deft sense of color—midnight blue and violet, chartreuse and bordeaux—and a special eye for detail. An ivory column with black embroidered flowers was exquisite, all the more so when it walked by and you got a look at the deep lace inset in back. There was a lot of poise in that gown. All things considered, this was a graceful start.
17 February 2015
Oscar de la Renta didn't do shows for his pre-collections. He preferred a presentation format—that way he could chat with attendees not just about the clothes, but about their love lives. So we were reminded today, ahead of a brief, intimatedéfiléat the Oscar de la Renta atelier. Oscar wasn't there, of course, but his spirit filled the room. It was also inherent in the clothes: Pre-Fall 2015 was the last collection he had a hand in designing. The house's new creative director, Peter Copping, advised the studio a bit on how to finish it, after de la Renta's death in October, but this wasn't his debut. Copping sat in the front row, taking it all in as a bystander, in essence.How does one review a collection like this—one that operates not as a swan song, not as an homage, but as a coda to a great career, now definitively over? On its merits, of course. And though these clothes didn't serve to turn the fashion dial in any way, they manifested the soigné de la Renta signature in spades. India was more or less the theme, apparent in the collection's plethora of hot pink—famously, the "navy blue of India"—and its hothouse florals and jaw-dropping thread embroidery. There was a suggestion of a sari in the way that ruffles wrapped around the body, or in the choli-taut fit of a bow-backed sleeveless top of double-stretch wool. The reference was put in the service of the de la Renta look rather than hammered home. It spoke loudest in the collection's clutch of cocktail frocks and gowns, particularly in a New Look-shaped dress of navy tulle that featured bright pink floral-thread embroidery, and the champagne-toned finale gowns with allover gold or silver embellishment. The maharaja's wife moves to New York, gets a place on Park Avenue, and needs things to wear to her nigh-nightly galas. Naturally, she turns first to de la Renta.
10 December 2014
"There is no one on earth who makes a woman feel more beautiful than Oscar de la Renta," thus said Karlie Kloss on her Instagram feed postshow. So far, the supermodel's selfie with the designer has more than 23,000 likes. But, really, who's going to argue with her after seeing his gorgeous Spring '15 lineup?The collection hit all of Oscar's signature marks: feminine, unfailingly polished, lush with color. Less conventional, perhaps, was its youthful spirit. Kloss wore fringed brogues with her lace tee, shorts, and gingham coat, and there was no shortage of midriff-baring looks, best among them an abbreviated A-line top and full three-quarter-length skirt in white and black broderie anglaise.De la Renta found inspiration in the outdoors, setting the scene with oversize gingham in pink, baby blue, or black, before launching into florals, which were positively everywhere—pinned to the neckline of a subtly sensational petal pink dress; hand-tatted in bright shades of yellow and red on an airy crocheted shift; and, because the house has embraced seasonless-ness, planted intarsia-style on a mink bolero or embroidered in whole bouquets on a white Persian lamb coat.Gorgeous, all of it, but as Bill Clinton might've once said, It's the eveningwear, stupid. (Stuffed toy elephants were perched below every seat, gifts from the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation to spread the word about poachers.) The celebrity stylist seated next to this reviewer snapped a picture of a strapless cocktail number in sequined and featheredmarinièrestripes. It wasn't the only dress that will soon find its way to the red carpet. The other top contenders: a gold sequin bandeau and matching ostrich feather-embroidered ball skirt, and a light pink silk faille off-the-shoulder crop top perched above a narrow, citron yellow silk faille skirt. Hard to resist all that joie de vivre.
9 September 2014
"Resort means nothing. Who buys clothes exclusively for going to a resort?" asked Oscar de la Renta at his presentation today. Who indeed? Even the rarefied crowd who shops for and wears four- and five-figure designer clothes wants value. De la Renta imbued his new collection with a good deal of that, opening his salon presentation with smart black-and-white looks, including a trim skirtsuit in tweed bouclé and a graphic coatdress with short, elbow-length sleeves. But just as often, he seemed eager to inject a fair bit of fun into the proceedings. That black-and-white coatdress was accessorized with fuchsia pumps, part of a renewed emphasis on footwear. Meanwhile, a silk faille bustier bared the midriff above a hip-slung skirt, and a bandeau top and shorts in Lurex-shot navy moire exposed plenty of shoulder and thigh. If those two looks seemed like something of a reach for the debonair De la Renta, it would take no stretch of the imagination to envision one of his ladies in the tomato red version of that bandeau top worn with wide-leg black culottes.In the end, anyway, those daytime looks were just a preamble. The evening dresses were the undisputed winners of this collection. A long-sleeved, black lace ankle-length gown with contrasting lace trim struck an elegant yet youthful note, while a strapless dress in hot pink with bullion filigree and multicolored floral embroidery was exuberant and joyous—not to mention a breeze to maneuver in with its just-below-the-knee length. It would've been a major hit on the Met Gala red carpet last week.
14 May 2014
Oscar de la Renta lists nine design assistants by name on his program notes. Can you think of another big name in fashion who does that? We can't; they don't exist. The designer and his team had a good night. To start off with, de la Renta showed crisp, charcoal flannel pinstripes. Very polished, they had a slightly masculine air about them that felt new. But there's never only one story chez Oscar. He also liked black leather this season—another surprise—and used it for wide-leg trousers, a sexy pencil skirt with a fluted hem, and, most dramatically, a shawl-collar coat with a graceful A-line swing. For the woman who prefers her ODLR with a little less bite—a houndstooth skirtsuit. Which sounds straightforward enough, except for the fact that it was overlaid with cardinal red guipure lace.Plenty of choices, as usual, but the audience seemed to make theirs when a sleeveless, knee-length dress patchworked from wide stripes of bouclé jacquard, each color embroidered in a different motif, glided onto the runway. It was utterly simple and yet completely divine. You could sense the "I want that one" energy in the room.We'll likely be hearing quite a lot about Charles James and his ball gowns with the exhibition opening at the Costume Institute this spring, but there's no debate who the current master is. De la Renta had some real beauties in this collection. Our favorites came in lilac pink silk duchesse with a burgundy velvet bustier and in strapless geranium red silk faille accented with gold sequins and cord embroidery. Slightly shorter in the front than in the back, they flashed a few inches of ankle. An Oscar for an Oscar nominee, anyone?
10 February 2014
Oscar de la Renta may have canceled the runway shows he once put on for inter-season collections and pared back the invitation lists of those he still stages, but it's hard to say he's pared back. An Oscar collection caroms from black and white to flamingo pink and citrine green, from smart-suit daywear to full-on ball gowns in lamé. For Pre-Fall, the inspiration points were just as varied: some shapes borrowed from Japanese fashion; vivid colors from Zurbarán, the great Spanish Golden Age painter. A parrot was embroidered onto a mikado pencil skirt. "I travel a lot," de la Renta chuckled, then added drily, "in a chair." Even so, he added, "You feel so sorry for the clothes that are not being shown." He gestured around the showroom at the racks. Put each on a model and, like a couture show of yore, you could be here all day.It's hard to blame de la Renta for his profligacy. Pre-collections have a long life on the floor, covering multiple seasons and, in a global marketplace, multiple climates. When you want to speak to all and sundry, as Oscar does—100 percent of the 1 percent, as it were—you have to have a lot to say. The new presentation style, of small-group vignettes, helped clarify the strongest messages. Bright, bold tailoring—a royal purple skirtsuit with a double-faced cashmere/angora bomber jacket, or an elongated gilet over matching forest green trousers—was snappy. But if you're not a woman for color, there were plenty of graphic options in classic black and white, in guipure lace and mélange tweed. For the rara avis: more-is-more multicolored gowns in silk taffeta and silk faille, the most photographed of which tied at the back, like a Christmas present, with an enormous bow. And for the femme fatale: an embroidered lamé gown, wrapped as tight around the bust as a bath towel. In the otherwise silent presentation, it made an appealing jingle as it went. If you were cynical, you might call that the sound of money in the bank. But de la Renta, though many things, isn't a cynic. "At the end, it's about making beautiful clothes for women to fall in love with," he said. So put it another way: music to his ladies' ears.
10 December 2013
After the buzz surrounding last season's Galliano interlude—did he have a hand in the collection, or did he not?—the atmosphere chez Oscar de la Renta this evening was comparatively subdued. But cue a George Harrison medley on the sound system and Karlie Kloss gliding onto the runway in a double-face gilet, cardigan, and pencil skirt, and the crowd perked right up.To start, there were classic day clothes in navy and white, with little adjustments here and there to bring proportions up-to-date. All looked well judged, though the chicest of the bunch was a gathered lapel jacket and matching pencil skirt in oversize houndstooth. From there, paths diverged. On the one hand, de la Renta showed a white cotton leaf dress with crochet knit trim, the picture of innocence. And on the other, he whipped up a blouse in black guipure lace with dramatic puffed sleeves out of a period drama. It takes all kinds, de la Renta knows, and he had a little something for all his ladies tonight: a graphic black and white interlude, vivid silk faille party dresses, stretch viscose separates embroidered with crystals, and a multicolor botanical printed on top of a polka dot, as cheery as can be.The variety continued into evening, which ranged from a narrow column dress in tiers of aqua georgette trimmed in tiny pearls to a frothy confection in citrine silk faille and tulle with black filigree embroidery. Just lovely, all around.
9 September 2013
Oscar de la Renta opted out of the big to-do he usually puts on for Resort, showing his new collection to small groups of journalists today in his showroom instead. "Eighty percent of people at a show go because it's a happening, which makes your work more difficult," he said. "This is a more humane way to see clothes."The intimacy of the proceedings was apropos of the offerings at hand. Close inspection was required to determine if the colorful flowers blossoming on a Prince of Wales-check skirtsuit were printed or embroidered. As it turned out, there was a bit of both. There's never a shortage of embellishment chez Oscar, of course, but the mood this season seemed particularly buoyant, with nods to mid-century couture. The models' lips were painted classic red, they wore net bows in their ponytails, and their pumps often matched their dresses.A peplum bisected a slim sheath, and a navy appliquéd silk faille top, which he called a "French jacket," flared out in an A-line above a pair of tapering trousers. Silhouettes were exaggerated for evening, too, via bubble skirts (complete with a brooch accenting the waistline in back) and Watteau backs. The collection's most striking number was a column gown in indigo silk faille with jet beading down the front; the cut was slim, but the effect was still positively grand.
20 May 2013
Oscar de la Renta made headlines last month when he invited John Galliano to be a designer-in-residence at his studio for three weeks. It wasn't long after the news broke that people began wondering if the disgraced former Dior designer would be working on de la Renta's Fall collection. We got our answer tonight. De la Renta came out for his bow, as he always does, but Galliano was in the building. When his PR chief was asked if Galliano had worked on the collection, she demurred, saying, "Well, he is backstage." There was that, and then there were the clothes themselves. Certain looks seemed very much to bear the Englishman's hand, especially the opening jackets with their draped necklines and flaring hips; there was something of Dior's classic Bar silhouette in them. Among the other clues that Galliano was in the house: The marcelled locks and deeply shaded, greasy eyes (one of four separate hair and makeup looks) were familiar from his Paris days.Then again, other pieces seemed more like vintage de la Renta. The 80-year-old will mark his 50th year of designing clothes in New York in 2013, so there isn't much territory that he hasn't covered. Nonetheless, it's safe to say that he owns looks like this show's white-ribbon-embroidered black party dress. The exaggerated toile prints and jacquards said America, not la France.The real question, though, isn't who did this and who did that, but rather, was it all any good? In some ways, it felt a good deal more conservative than de la Renta's Spring collection, which boasted latex skirts and tops as well as evening shorts. On the other hand, nothing last season came close to the wow factor of the two grand silk faille ball gowns with gold bullion embroidery (one shocking pink, the other mulberry) that closed the show. In theory, Galliano's residency is almost up, but if there's one thing for certain, tonight wasn't the end of the intrigue.
11 February 2013
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," Marvin Gaye crooned on the soundtrack at Oscar de la Renta's show tonight. One couldn't help but wonder if it was the designer's final riposte in the great hot dog/hamburger debate of 2012. De la Renta is undoubtedly the real thing, but this collection fell somewhat short of the high bar he's set for himself over the decades. It started positively, with a new silhouette. Fitted through the torso, then A-line to below the knee, the show-opening indigo denim tweed dress accessorized with a matching jacket looked young and fresh. An off-the-shoulder top embroidered with bugle beads arranged in polka dots, worn with cropped pants, likewise had a lively energy. But as the show progressed, it lost some of that focus. A surfeit of print and an excess of embellishment were part of the problem, and the hair and makeup and styling looked off. De la Renta should've nixed the distracting novelty tights.He did manage to turn things around by the end, though. Oscar is a master of the after-dark arts, and a caviar-beaded fringe gown had the timeless rightness that he's always made his own.
9 December 2012
Oscar de la Renta is New York fashion's éminence grise. Over the decades he's become synonymous with uptown swish, and because he often dresses political wives—Ann Romney wore ODLR for her convention speech—he's also a household name. Lately, though, he just as reliably delivers runway surprises. This season, those included a passage of four sets of evening shorts, and latex in the form of a slick red T-shirt worn with a jaunty navy blazer and thigh-slit khaki skirt. None of which will be written about in the fashion history books, but you've got to admire the gentleman's moxie.In fact, what this collection had going for it, as it often does, was its diversity. First ladies, society swans, Hollywood types, Wall Streeters—Oscar has dressed them all. First daughters, too: Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager were sitting in the front row. All of them will find something to like for spring. For the minimalists, he showed an ivory linen pantsuit and a black silkMadame Xdress. Maximalists had their choice of day suits in doily lace and fuchsia astrakhan. After dark, a pair of party dresses in feather-embroidered tulle were especially memorable, and we predict we'll be seeing a lot of the shocking pink strapless gown with the green silk pompoms in magazines. One particularly influential French editor could be heard saying, "J'adoreOscar,j'adoreOscar" on her way to the elevator. Who doesn't?
10 September 2012
At his show in February, Oscar de la Renta solicited design tips from the audience. Today, at his Resort presentation, his program notes announced that the green and white silk sequin baseball T-shirt he sent down the runway with a gingham skirt in billowy tulle and organza would be available for preorder immediately on TheFancy.com. The designer has embraced social media, and the neon streaks in the models' hair were further proof that he has his compass pointed toward the future.That said, he never let you forget you were at an Oscar show. The familiar de la Renta-isms—the skirtsuit, the sleeveless day dress, the double-face coat, the perfect pair of high-waisted trousers—were all here, rendered in sharp, graphic pops of black and white. And there were flowers galore, from lush embroideries on party dresses to blown-up photo prints on silk tunics and cropped pants. Florals are part of the house repertoire, but if the appliqués were tried and true, the photorealistic patterns, having bloomed on other designers' runways for several seasons now, felt a bit me-too.The dress that made everyone sit up and take notice was a strapless evergreen silk faille gown. It was classic Oscar—as elegant and ladylike as they come. And with a generous peplum at the waist it was equally of the moment.
20 May 2012
A sticker on Oscar de la Renta's show program was the first clue we were in for something different. It read "#THEBOARD: Submit inspiration to the board for our next collection. Oscar and his assistants will be watching live in the studio for new content daily." The clothes, like the invitation to contribute ideas, seemed pitched at a new generation.The youthful feeling came through in any number of ways: the mostly short, full-skirted silhouettes; the baby pinks and powder blues; the ribbons affixed with gobstopper crystals that the models wore in their hair. But mostly it was the photo prints of jewels that gave this show its irreverent streak. They were facsimiles of the real bijoux that dangled from pieces like a Nile blue silk faille dress or a black double-face cashgora, but blown up to positively eye-popping proportions. Cheeky.Don't get us wrong; these clothes were still plenty precious—as is the de la Renta way. And he didn't neglect to include skirtsuits and twinsets for the Park Avenue set, either, but they weren't the focus. The playful mood continued into evening, where the emphasis was on cocktail dresses. The draped tulle gowns at the end were more debutante than doyenne. Oscar turns 80 this year. Eighty years young.
13 February 2012
For Spring, Oscar de la Renta gave us a refresher course on all the reasons we love him. The taffeta ball skirts! Those handkerchief lace dresses! The embellished gowns! The pre-fall collection he presented today on Park Avenue wasn't the ode to joy he put on back in September, but it served as a reminder that ODLR still has his charms when he's performing in a minor key.Chief among them were a series of dresses, both to the knee and floor-length, cut from crinkled and pleated silk. Whisper-thin and nearly weightless, they're the kind of frock you'll turn to again and again when the weather warms: fabulous, but also easy. This may be the "awards season" season, but de la Renta didn't put a lot of red-carpet showstoppers on the runway. (We're guessing his Hollywood gals go to the atelier for some one-on-one time with the designer along with their one-of-a-kind gowns.) In their place were narrow beaded or sequined column dresses worn with matching bolero jackets that sparkled without being flashy.That's a fitting description for this line all around. Out went Spring's harem pants in favor of elegant trousers in bold shades of marigold or ocean blue. And the show's most unforgettable coat came in wine red double-faced leather, not a stitch of embroidery or passementerie or what have you. On the more embellished side of the equation, silk Mikado dresses in Rothko-esque color blocks and Monetlike botanical prints, as well as a hooded fox vest clinched by a dragonfly brooch, stood out.
4 December 2011
If he wanted to indicate a new mood for Spring, Oscar de la Renta couldn't have picked a better soundtrack: Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Yes, you read that right. And sitting front-row opposite Valentino and Justin Timberlake: Nicki Minaj, sans pants. Those weren't the only things that made this Oscar show feel particularly zippy. There was a fresh, upbeat look that went beyond the bobby-socks-and-heels act, the softly frizzed hair, and the no-makeup makeup. You saw it in a pair of bright silk taffeta ball gowns topped with T-shirts. Couture lace T-shirts, but you get the idea.De la Renta has ditched the old church where he's presented for the last couple of years in favor of his new 42nd Street showroom. New venue, new lease on life? The space is un-renovated, and the runway is narrow. It meant you had an up-close view of the beautiful handwork that has won him so many fans over the years. White is a big trend this week, but we challenge you to find a lovelier, more ethereal dress than the one with the delicate handkerchief hem the designer put on Arizona Muse. It was one of a series of lacy white confections that skewed younger than anything we've seen on an Oscar runway lately. And other things surprised, too. A chartreuse feather-stitched tank top and matching harem pant was perhaps too outré, but then you'd see de la Renta's enthusiasm paying off, as in a crocheted silver thread sweater that exposed an inch or so of midriff over a metallic ball skirt.Not to worry, ladies: He hasn't abandoned his core clients, the ones who return year after year for the tweedy skirtsuits, the sleeveless sheaths, the entrance-making evening dresses. But how fab to see a designer hit the refresh button after 40-plus years in business.
12 September 2011
Oscar de la Renta traded in the church on Park Avenue where he's been holding his shows for several years in favor of his new showroom high above 42nd Street. The space is currently raw and unrenovated, quite unlike the meticulously constructed Resort clothes on his runway. Then again, the setting was rather apt. De la Renta took Picasso as inspiration, his Cubist period in particular, and you've got to think that the artist would've appreciated the midtown views of jutting skyscrapers.With the exception of a few poolside getups (including one particularly racy look on VS angel Candice Swanepoel), this was as urban and urbane as de la Renta's Cruise collections get, long on skirtsuits and sleeveless sheaths. Picasso came into it via the colorful decoupaged embroideries, the graphic black-and-white scribble prints, and the brooches, belt buckles, and necklaces that looked like they could've been lifted from a canvas or sculpture. It was a rare outfit that wasn't beaded, patchworked, or otherwise embellished—evidence of handwork was everywhere you looked, just how his ladies like it.The artist's Spanish roots provided a through line to the collection's matador jackets; high-waist, narrow-cut pants; and pompom trim flamenco hats made of construction paper. If the headgear was a bit of a head-scratcher, a polka-dot evening dress was de la Renta at his best. And there was more where that came from. Flouncy gowns in shades of flamenco red, blossom pink, and vivid green will be lighting up dance floors come the holidays. Maybe it's the new address; this de la Renta show was full of life.
15 May 2011
Rich. How else to describe the jacquard coat with the bouclé trim and Indian embellishments that opened Oscar de la Renta's show? Or the purple lamb and fox vest worn over a hand-knit cashmere cardigan and laser-cut leather embroidered suede skirt? This is one designer who was never tempted by the recent minimalism trend, but if he'd curbed his taste for glorious excess in the face of the recession over the last couple of years, his Fall collection signaled an end to that. Some saw in the opulence of the embroideries and the exoticism of such accessories as a paisley silk scarf tucked under a fox fur circlet a play for the emerging (make that emerged) BRIC markets. There's undoubtedly an audience for these kinds of clothes in those countries, but then again de la Renta has always loved mixing a far-flung reference in among his bouclé skirtsuits, sleeveless day dresses, and lavish statement coats. And his Park Avenue crowd has been happy to take him up on it.His eveningwear was hardly less extravagant. Take, for instance, a strapless column with multicolor sequined embroideries; it was a mosaic of florals and paisleys and positively stunning. Most of the gowns tended toward the straight and narrow, which just added to the standout effect of the silver lamé number with the beige and gray tulle ball skirt, the one that was topped by the ivory shearling with the black crewel threadwork. The ascetics in the room didn't leave happy, but de le Renta isn't aiming to please them. Plenty of others found his exuberance spellbinding.
15 February 2011
DidOscar de la Rentahave the April wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in mind when he was putting the finishing touches on pre-fall? The trio of finale dresses in pastel shades of silk faille (one with a matching cardigan and two with toreador jackets) were so grand in their proportions, so elaborate in their bullion and threadwork embroideries, so spectacular they might not look out of place at a royal occasion (aside from the fact that the wearer would be in danger of upstaging the bride). We can picture Oscar's girls scrambling for an invitation to Westminster Abbey as we type. Then again, a pair of black leather leggings worn with a white peasant blouse and a chinchilla-trim broadtail vest also made a turn on the runway.After more than 40 years in business, de la Renta has earned the privilege to send multiple messages down the catwalk, and he definitely has a diverse fan base, but, for the most part, the 59 looks he showed today played best to the polished uptown types who love him best. Among the de rigueur tweedy skirtsuits, the palazzo pants, and the little black dresses we all expect from the designer was a super-fitted, long-sleeved dress in what looked like a blown-up tweed. Where he really went to town was with color, opening with a vibrant green cardigan worn back-to-front with a matching knee-length skirt, followed by a shocking pink skirtsuit and chiffon blouse. Later on, a red and black strapless column was accessorized with a fuchsia scarf wrapped around the model's updo. Middleton is obliged to wear a British designer, but for her mum, perhaps, may we suggest Oscar's beige silk double georgette embroidered gown?
5 December 2010
Oscar de la Renta has never made any apologies for catering to the upper tiers of the upper crust, and why should he? But his reliance on certain posh props (updos and heavy eye makeup on the models, an ostrich bag filled with fresh-cut flowers, a soundtrack of doo-wop hits by the Platters) made today's somewhat uneven collection feel more old-fashioned than it might otherwise have. Mixed in among the ladylike tweeds, windowpane plaids, and raffia embroidered linen were a pair of genuinely fresh shibori print frocks in relaxed away-from-the-body silhouettes. For cocktail hour, there were a fair number of modern options, from a strapless number in navy gazar embroidered with black organza to a white swansdown tutu with a black faille bodice, the latter of which seemed to thrill front-row star Sarah Jessica Parker. And, as ever, de la Renta's gowns were something to marvel at, especially the black mermaid dress with the one flounced shoulder strap and the ivory threadwork embroidery layered over a peony pink column. On the other hand, numbers like the celadon silk faille with the pink carnation appliqués and matching bolero erred too retro and over-the-top. At his best, de la Renta has a more subtle touch.
15 September 2010
Oscar de la Renta may be New York old guard, but he did his best to make Desirée Rogers and the rest of his audience today forget it, sending a few of his models out clutching iPads tucked into luxe leather covers, not to mention streaming the show live on Facebook. He's embraced twenty-first-century technology, to be sure, and there were a lot of toned young legs on display, courtesy of his of-the-moment forties-retro shorts. Still, things haven't changed all that much chez Oscar.His clients will find new reasons to whip out the charge card in the collection's embellished jackets, accessorized here, as at Jason Wu, with jaunty straw boaters. And he might nab himself a few new ones with similar silhouettes cut from peppy, pieced denim or khaki. De la Renta amped up the prints and the embroideries—he's not one for fashion's latest preoccupation with minimalism.Nowhere was that more true than in his evening offerings, which ranged from a narrow abstractly beaded black net column with cap sleeves to a corseted ball gown boasting voluminous point d'esprit skirts, and in between, a nod to Cristobal Balenciaga in a black grommeted white dress that belled out below the waist.
6 June 2010
Oscar de la Renta hasn't let the Great Recession get him down. His outlook and his collections have remained as vibrant as ever, but his latest effort was his most gilded and audacious in a while (intriguingly, not unlike that of his compatriot in style Carolina Herrera). Channeling the eighties with big, feathered 'dos and glossy makeup, his models wore day looks in lush fabrics and bold colors, like a cinnamon alpaca coat with an orchid alpaca collar or a pumpkin floral long-sleeve silk mikado dress. And how's this for rich: a silk-faille dress and jacket, a cashmere scarf twisted around the model's head, and an umbrella, all rendered in digital astrakhan print? De la Renta hardly skimped on embroideries, either, decorating the hems of long, straight skirts with tilelike mosaics of fabric above a ring of nutria fur. The ladies of Park Avenue will be mighty pleased indeed.Evening, interestingly, was a slightly more nuanced affair, and it skewed younger, too, targeting a Hollywood set. Jessica Biel and her stylist sat front and center. There was a subtle knee-length stunner in beaded lace jacquard and a black double-faced coat embroidered in a similar Art Deco style, as well as a rather cool-looking matador's organza blouse and high-waisted black pants with fans embroidered down the sides. But de la Renta focused most of his after-dark efforts on glamour gowns. The highlights of the bunch were a silvery cowl-neck column with a lamé skirt and a dove-gray organza long-sleeve style with touches here and there of glittery beads and scads of fluttering ruffles at the hem. A black faille number bustled in the back was made for grand exits. Oscar knows his woman doesn't want to fade into the woodwork; with this confident collection, there's no chance of that.
16 February 2010
"You have to make a woman fall in love with your clothes." That was Oscar de la Renta backstage before his pre-fall show, talking about how to woo the customer during the recession. Up economy or down, special pieces, not basics, are this designer's MO, and at his runway show today, he sent out a few beauties. On the more restrained side, there was a great pair of black denim toreador pants, worn with a pretty embroidered nude silk chiffon blouse, as well as a sexy plunging lace cocktail dress, also in black. But de la Renta wasn't really in understated mode. His color palette was a spicy mix of canary yellow, vermillion, pink, and ruby, and he favored ikats, suzani embroideries, and bold patchworks to simpler fare. Many of the looks were accessorized with scarves or little sweaters wrapped around the models' necks. The multicolor patchwork carried into evening; he showed a long narrow skirt with a ruffled silk chiffon blouse and a can't-miss-it necklace. Some clients might find that kind of full-on luxe too over-the-top, downturn or not. For them, de la Renta whipped up a black silk faille gown with plenty of drama on the left shoulder that looked special in a lower key.
6 December 2009
There was a surprising new face at Oscar de la Renta today: Zac Posen was sitting in the front row for the first time, not far from the socialites who wouldn't miss one of the master's shows for the world. "It's a dream to see the pinnacle of embroidery and luxurious fabrics from the best mills in the world treated in the most magnificent ways," Posen said afterward. If this wasn't the most lavish of Oscar shows, there were still more than enough rich details to go around, Great Recession be damned. And he didn't skimp on color, either. A vibrant teal safari suit updated with wide sleeves and cropped pants, a smart silk crepe dress with a draped neckline in pale melon, and a bronze linen twill trench with pushed-up sleeves stood out among white broderie anglaise and creamy tweeds. And as for those embroideries, one of the most interesting was a threadwork fitted sheath in white, hyacinth, and peridot.The presentation could've benefited from less heavy-handed styling (Heidi braids with fabric woven through them and felt hats? heads swaddled in lace?). But minus the distracting extras, there were looks here to make his customers' hearts go pitter-patter, especially for evening. A belted nude column with lavish silver embroidery, a black Chantilly lace embroidered dress, a white silk gazar and black silk crepe one-shoulder gown—if your celebrity stylist hasn't already called them in for the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles this Sunday, sorry, ladies, it's probably too late.
15 September 2009
Other big-name designers may be dialing down their Resort presentations, but not Oscar de la Renta. He was back at 583 Park Avenue today mingling with editors and retailers before putting on a show with a strong French twist. A belted tunic vest and matching skirt, a shirtdress, and a cropped jacket worn with jeans all made from tweedy bouclés and topped with matching berets should keep his ladies happy—although they'll likely skip the bobby socks and sandals.Paris was inspirational to many a Fall collection, so de la Renta was hardly treading new territory here. It was good, then, to see him delve into his own box of tricks when it came to the evening looks. His little black dresses were alternately embellished with paillettes at the hem, edged and belted in frothy point d'esprit, or blossoming with three-dimensional silk faille roses at the portrait neckline. Among the occasion gowns, a silver lamé draped mousseline number was a standout, but he saved the best for last: a long-sleeved smoky gray column embroidered with silvery pearls. Its refined elegance was unmistakably Oscar.
31 May 2009
"Mercy, Mercy Me" played on repeat at Oscar de la Renta. It doesn't pay to read too much into such details, but we don't need Marvin Gaye to tell us that "things ain't what they used to be." On the upside, there's the new administration; and on the down, well, we all know about the down. For de la Renta, though, the negative will never be a notion worth entertaining. So what if the markets performed another nosedive earlier this week? The designer is resolutely staying the upper-crust, polished course, from the tippy top of his models' grand, Keira Knightley-in-The Duchessupdos to their gold-shod feet.The show opened with a black double-faced wool dress, accessorized with a black and white skunk scarf and mittens that suggested de la Renta might be willing to dial down the luxury—skunk being quite a bit less swanky than, say, fox. But not a chance. Hallmarks like texture, surface embellishment, and color are just as key this season as they've ever been. Witness a smashing lamé leopard dress, an embroidered gold jacquard coat, and an aubergine silk wool suit worn with a red charmeuse blouse. (Although an almost minimal-by-comparison black wool skirtsuit gets high marks, too.)De la Renta is one of the few designers this week who has really gone there in terms of grand evening. His stunners came in the subtle variety—a black silk off-the-shoulder column cinched with a metallic belt, for instance—and the not so subtle, as in the pair of strapless crinoline gowns that closed the show. In the face of so much turmoil, there was something about all that netting that was fabulously defiant.
17 February 2009
The mercury had dipped into the single digits, but backstage at 583 Park Avenue, Oscar de la Renta was talking about gardening. "Sometimes you plant and sometimes you weed. This is a weeding time," he said, referring to the economy. "But it's also a time of opportunity." The message being, doomsday talk or not, de la Renta doesn't plan on cutting back a whole lot. There were as many embroidered party dresses as ever, in black and white sequins, iridescent feathers, and gold-stitched beige silk faille. And the lunch set will find endless choices as well, from tried-and-true tweeds, including a patchworked style, to the altogether unexpected black and gold silk faille embroidered with metallic studs the designer used on a knee-length coat and skirt. The collection was accessorized to the hilt, with big drop earrings, riding hats, bags aplenty, and the occasional knee-high stockings. The giddy exuberance of it all was somewhat reminiscent of the 1980's. "We're trying to help the consumer get excited again," de la Renta said. It would probably be churlish to chide him for that.
7 December 2008
The first look out, a color-blocked and belted maillot worn by a model who was nothing but legs, suggested that things might go in a bold new direction chez de la Renta this season. But that short, sharp opening salvo was quickly followed by more familiar Oscar-isms: the crisp white blouse with the dirndl skirt, the soft-structure pantsuit, the navy or black cocktail sheath—much of it accessorized with brooches, multistrand necklaces, and drop earrings. Among the show's most compelling pieces were Coco Rocha's white coat with super-graphic navy harlequin embroidery and her strapless peplum gown made from the same high-contrast materials. There were also plenty of luxurious fabrics to swoon over, such as the gray, blue, and silver brocade of a short-sleeve sway-back coat, or the painterly floral print of a silk faille strapless gown.Everything was perfectly beautiful, maybe a bit too much so. You wanted to see de la Renta loosen up, play more to the J.Lo crowd (the pop diva's appearance caused quite a commotion) and less to the ladies who lunch. After all, he doesn't have to work for the latter's devotion; he owns it. The first step is to pare back on some of the heavy jewelry and the second is to leave the weekend bags in the showroom. That way, the clothes can do the talking.
9 September 2008
"It's a very happy collection," said a relaxed Oscar de la Renta as he greeted guests filing into 583 Park Avenue, a venue that had been transformed by Stefan Beckman into a sort of minty-fresh aqua and white garden. Sure, the economy's barreling downhill, the Democratic nominees are locked in a grinding duel, and gas may hit $5 a gallon, but life does go on. And when it does, Oscar's lady who lounges, lunches, and loves to look fabulous will need something to wear. The designer covered her daytime needs with shantung skirtsuits, slim shift dresses, and high-waisted trousers, along with more playful options like a sparkling white sweater with an emerald gazar skirt. Bags and shoes came coordinated to the hilt, treading close to the point of distraction. But it was evening that was at the heart of this show. There was everything from a chocolate-box assortment of L.B.D.'s to sleek hammered-silk columns to a finale of massive, meringuelike ball gowns. An ocean blue stunner with a cascade of curlicue ruffles was pure de la Renta, while a white silk gown with a black bodice kept things simple. In these trying times, the good life doesn't always need to make a ruckus.
13 May 2008
Recession? What recession? The Federal Reserve may have just lowered interest rates again, but Oscar de la Renta is still laying on the gold leaf. With pop chanteuse Regina Spektor at the grand piano in his 583 Park Avenue show space, the designer sent out a Fall collection of impeccable clothes for gals young and old who are accustomed to the good life. For day, de la Renta stayed true to his tested silhouettes: a long and lean jacket in boiled cashmere over full-cut flannel pants, or a boxier jacket in a cashmere knit with a knee-length dirndl skirt in dip-dyed silk. Where he experimented a bit was with a trio of high-waist silk zibeline pants, the most striking of which was in amethyst with a black net overlay, worn with a Venetian red silk ruffle-front blouse. There was plenty of fur, too—sable at the hem of a herringbone-tweed coat, fox on the collar of a sheared broadtail. And, yes, that was gold embroidery on an otherwise unassuming (by de la Renta standards) shearling.Come evening, the collection went two ways: understated, as with a trio of black columns in velvet, hammered satin, and silk crepe; or gala. Gustav Klimt's work was a reference point not only for a strapless floral chiffon embroidered dress accessorized with several strands of beads, but also for a pair of black gowns—one in a realistic (gold-) leaf motif and the other in a more abstract brushstroke style. Boom or bust, de la Renta knows what his ladies like.
3 February 2008
Oscar de la Renta returned to 583 Park Avenue for his pre-fall collection, and revisited the lavish floral prints that so dominated the Spring runways. And why not? They're such a vital part of the designer's oeuvre, after all. The show opened with a boldly colored brocade jacket worn over a fitted sweater and a full, dirndl-like skirt. That silhouette predominated as he worked his way through tweed suits, silk ikat, and dip-dyed silk faille, and, for evening, taffeta dresses worn to the knee or full and floor-sweeping. But this was no one-note show: There were also slim skirtsuits, full trousers paired with hand-knit sweaters, and a pair of jewel-tone goddess dresses in hammered satin. All in all, it added up to 63 looks, a sign of just how seriously de la Renta takes his pre-fall business.
2 December 2007
Ralph Lauren isn't the only designer in town who can put on a show with a capital "S." Oscar de la Renta left the Bryant Park tents for the tonier environs of a decommissioned Georgian church at 583 Park Avenue this season, and hired the blissed-out choir-cum-high-school-jazz-orchestra the Polyphonic Spree to perform its feel-good hits. What's more, he had Roger Federer in his front row, fresh off the tennis ace's fourth U.S. Open win.The collection itself more than lived up to any heightened expectations the change of scenery might have produced. De la Renta touched upon several of Spring's developing trends—the safari jacket, tribal patterns and beading, strong color—without feeling trendy in the least. Classic is more like it, be it the perfect red wool sheath, a stunningly embroidered black-and-burgundy suit with a cropped jacket and razor-slim skirt, or a tent dress in a brown-and-cream ethnic geometric print. Only a couple of cable sweaters, worn with full pants, came off on the wrong side of the maturity/youth divide. But the designer quickly corrected that with a cardigan in of-the-moment tie-dye.Evening was a study in elegance, whether de la Renta went understated, as he did with a sublime black silk sponge crepe gown cinched above the waist with a lizard belt, or bold. If you want drama, the show's closing number—strapless, with a spray of glossy black feathers decorating the neckline—is your dress.
9 September 2007
The grand theater-in-the-round setting for Oscar de la Renta's resort show put some audience members in mind of Chanel's recent presentations, but if there was a designer's influence at play in this beautiful collection, other than de la Renta's own, it could have been Yves Saint Laurent's. Loulou de la Falaise, YSL's longtime muse-turned-fellow designer, was sitting front-and-center (coincidentally, as it happened), and up on the raised platform there were seventies references like a white cotton piqué safari jacket, an off-the-shoulder ruffled taffeta dress, and a striking orange top worn with sweeping, wide-leg lime-green silk pants.In between, it was all Oscar: natty, nautical separates like striped sweaters and cuffed trousers; trim, almost minimal skirtsuits with short-sleeve jackets in white or cream; and drop-waist sleeveless dresses with a full ruffle to the knee—one of the chicest in shades of brown that subtly evoked the Me Decade. Accessories, especially the white patent belts that he paired with everything from a grosgrain ribbon-embroidered coat in black and navy to a tangerine silk faille ball gown, kept the look and feel of the show firmly in the twenty-first century. And as for those evening gowns, a pair of printed chiné taffeta dresses (one in marigold, another in coral) may have had the front-row lovelies—Renée Rockefeller, Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer—reconsidering their outfits for tonight's CFDA Awards, where, of course, de la Renta is nominated for Womenswear Designer of the Year.
3 June 2007
It could've been a movie, so picture-perfect was Oscar de la Renta's take on the good life. From beginning to end, and day to night, the collection sparkled. A houndstooth sheath glinted with crystal embroidery; a cardigan (of which there were many covetable varieties) came trimmed with chains and stones; and tweed coats were laminated so that they resembled crinkly patent leather.On top of that, the fur was fairly flying, from après-ski vests—little rings of ermine or sable circling the shoulders of models in evening dresses—to weightless chinchillas for warding off the wind as it whips down the avenues. Even the designer's sweaters were lined and edged in the stuff. But when it comes to luxe factor, the astrakhan shot through with gold and finished off with face-framing wolverine was the ne plus ultra.Come evening, the designer had something for everyone to covet: for the minimalists, a silk velvet dress with swayback in deepest navy; for would-be princesses, the fairy tale of a gown in embroidered anthracite tulle with matching chinchilla bolero that closed the show. Complaints? He could've switched up some of the sequin cocktail dresses for a few more suits. Otherwise, this was another Oscar crowd-pleaser.
4 February 2007
Give the ladies what they want—that's always been Oscar de la Renta's mantra, and for spring he didn't waver. Were there embroideries? You bet. And lace, crochet, and florals, too. The show opened with a red-poppy sundress with pockets, followed by another in a rich Himalayan blue. This collection wasn't wallflower material; bold, oversize prints shared the runway with saturated colors like azure, cherry, and marigold.The designer kept things youthful with short silhouettes, though none were quite as brief as the crochet tunic Tanya Dziahileva wore to deliver red roses to front-row guest of honor Roger Federer. Perhaps Oscar whipped up the navy polo and white mini—one of the collection's only sporty moments—in honor of the U.S. Open champ. Other looks were less surprising. A year ago, de la Renta ushered in the return of the bubble—on this side of the Atlantic, at least—and he showed plenty of them today, in silk gazar for day and taffeta for night. But by now, that silhouette is starting to feel a little played out. What looked fresh for evening were his navy dresses. Among those, one in particular stood out: In front, it was a simple crepe column; in back, crystal buttons punctuated a gorgeous fall of fabric. Count on Oscar to bring the drama.
10 September 2006
Oscar de la Renta changed things up for resort. Rather than show in his Seventh Avenue showroom, the accustomed venue for his cruise line, he chose the dazzling Renzo Piano-redesigned Morgan Library as a backdrop. And among the reliable assemblage of editors, buyers, and Park Avenue types, there was a new face: Olivier Theyskens, in town to receive the Council of Fashion Designers of America's International Award. But if some things were different, the clothes were pure Oscar, from the first trapeze-back ivory bouclé shift to the last bubble-skirted ball gown in a Marie Antoinette by way of Nancy Lancaster floral print. In between, he showed mod polka dots, raffia crochet, eyelet, and a white lace-and-point-d'esprit djellaba that was memorable not only for its beauty but also because it was one of the few pieces—aside from the show's numerous straw hats and sunglasses—that explicitly evoked thoughts of lounging poolside at Punta Cana, or some other posh Caribbean retreat.These clothes, after all, are in stores longer than those of any other season—in some cases from November until May—and that means they have to cover every manner of occasion. For day, Oscar's ladies can choose between a ruffle-neck taffeta top with wide-leg twill pants (lunch at The Modern), a silk shirtdress in the designer's favorite ikat print (after-work power drinks), or a smart navy-and-white houndstooth cotton suit (Board of Directors meeting). Come evening, it's flirty cocktail numbers in silk faille, gala-worthy columns with matching rib-skimming boleros, and—rather fittingly, given the show's location—strapless gowns to do a robber baroness proud.
4 June 2006
Let the rest of New York go punk. While other designers flit from one influence to another, Oscar de la Renta has made a four-decade-long career of staying true to his brand of ladylike elegance. All of his signatures were there for fall: lavish handiwork, smart day suits, ballerina dresses. You could argue that he had a few too many of these last and that the show as a whole ran a little long, but why quibble when there was so much here to please the Oscar faithful.For fall, de la Renta focused on his tailoring, sending out a parade of jackets in metallic brocades, embroidered cashmeres, and lean, cropped shearlings. These were paired with simple, full-leg trousers or knee-length skirts, alternately embellished with rosettes and trimmed in fur. Of the latter, there was certainly no shortage. Lippi-cat and chinchilla coats with puffed three-quarter-length sleeves and swingy full skirts were two of his runway's most covetable pieces. His socialite clients will have to move fast if they want first dibs.De la Renta has a master's eye for color—that chinchilla was olive, not standard-issue gray—but his most brilliant after-dark confections came in body-loving black. Strapless satin with velvet trim, passementerie and lace with a plunging neckline—each one was lovelier than the last and just the ticket for a memorable night.
5 February 2006
After last season's Russian sojourn, Oscar de la Renta returned to his Latin roots for spring. And why shouldn't he? In the 40 years he's been in business (he celebrated the anniversary this year), regular flamenco infusions have served him well.With the Williams sisters, Eva Longoria, Candace Bushnell, and Donald and Melania Trump watching from the front row, de la Renta played to his strengths: flounces galore, toreador jackets, and a spicy palette of marigold, red, and warm neutrals, often finished off with a smattering of crystal embroidery. For day, wooden beading at the hip or contrast piping along seams gave classic silhouettes a sprightly flare, but beige linen suits and bouclé tweeds won't disappoint his faithful league of ladies.As for eveningwear, Oscar gave the women what they want, from knee-length Audrey Hepburn black sheaths to a taffeta Empire gown painted with watercolor blossoms. For occasions that call for something in between, he did silk chiffon halter-neck dresses, with daring keyhole cutouts. He even reprised last season's T-shirt and ball skirt on Jacquetta Wheeler. Yes, there were many commercial moments, which isn't a bad thing. But at 75 looks, the show could've used some editing. All told, an Oscar collection is like a trip to the Prado. Faced with such an embarrassment of riches, it's too easy to miss the many fine things.
11 September 2005
Oscar de la Renta's shows are always elegant and invariably luxe. But for fall, the designer really went to town with the signature embellishments loved so well by his mother-daughter fans (like Tina and Beyoncé Knowles, who made their way to their seats after the lights had dimmed). The collection started on an ethnic note, with belted ikat coats and jackets (a motif he introduced for spring) worn with bejeweled turtlenecks and glen plaid skirts or trousers, also embroidered. No look was left undone, except perhaps for a few pairs of shorts that shouldn't have made it to the runway; they're a tough sell for this genteel crowd. Ornamentation came via trompe l'oeil beading on cashmere crewnecks, coin appliqués on skirts and handbags, even unexpected crocheted brooches on knit scarves.Evening was just as ornate. De la Renta reprised one of his greatest hits when he paired voluminous white silk blouses with brightly hued embroidered velvet gypsy skirts. One black cocktail dress was simple enough for Holly Golightly, but most were decorated—some opulently with rhinestones and tiny silk bows or gold paillettes. His red carpet numbers ranged from streamlined racer-back columns with heavy dustings of sequins to Empire-line tulle princess gowns to brocade showstoppers that grazed the toes of audience members as they glided by—just the thing for a larger-than-life diva like Knowles.
6 February 2005
Whether or not you live the life that demands an Oscar de la Renta wardrobe, his collections are a delight to the eyes: flawlessly executed, poised and urbane, with just the right balance of mature charm and youthful exuberance. Skeptics who doubt his generation-spanning skills need only glance over the front row of his spring collection, where Mandy Moore, Serena Williams, Ashley Olsen, and Jessica Simpson oohed and aahed as much as the society ladies who grew up on Oscar.If anybody is going to go bold in a season of demure, sometimes lukewarm fashion, let it be de la Renta. Tropical climates are second nature to him, and that shows in his deep, rich hues: chocolate, red, orange, and pink, played off white, navy, and beige. New textures, like crochet, and whimsical touches—like pompoms trimming a white bouclé dress—gave his clean, classic silhouettes a casual youthfulness. His slim shirtdresses and light-as-foam nubby suits solved any daytime dilemmas. And when it comes to eveningwear, no one knows more about giving women what they want. A coolly elegant strapless dress with an undulating pouf skirt? A high-drama pink tulle and feather concoction? Or a simply stunning white-and-gold Empire-waist column, worn with flat gold sandals? In Oscar's world, there's no such thing as the wrong choice.
12 September 2004
Fabulous handiwork; rich, spicy colors; shapes cut to flatter. These are Oscar de la Renta’s calling cards, and his socialite-packed front row is testament to the designer’s mastery of the opulent-meets-elegant genre.For fall, de la Renta played up the curves, showing hip-hugging pencil skirts and bias-cut A-line shapes that undulated beneath slim, snug jackets or lush cashmere sweaters. Tweed is the fabric of choice this season, but de la Renta never let his fabrics get too heavy; a neatly cut, nubby grey dress ended in a waft of flirty fluff at the hem, while a brown flared skirt got a lift from a spray of guinea hen feathers. De la Renta also loves a fur trim and he worked sable, shearling, mink, and lamb into places both expected (collars, cuffs, vests, and coats) and otherwise (the edge of a skirt).De la Renta’s evening looks, all garnished with Fred Leighton jewels, hit a series of luxurious highs. A Balenciaga-esque cascade of satin poured down the back of a strict, fitted satin sheath, while a dramatic black-tulle bustier was paired with a swinging beaded skirt. And for those with a fairy-tale ball in their future, any of the designer’s star-spangled tulle gowns will be just the ticket.
8 February 2004
It’s virtually impossible not to get swept up in Oscar de la Renta’s confident vision of the luxurious life. The designer played to all of his strengths for spring, showing more of the pretty dresses, chic suits, and slim coats that have made him a touchstone of relaxed, modern elegance.Judging from the cuts and colors of this collection, de la Renta has Palm Beach on his mind. He opened with a series of brightly colored dresses and skirts, some cut in a swingy, ballooning silhouette, others slim and paired with silk sweaters. The designer knows how to keep things young—by roughing up the edges of a turquoise silk skirt or tossing a boxy yellow alligator jacket over a slim white skirt—as well as how to dress those whose daily routine includes cocktails on the yacht (answer: a group of simple black dresses, each more Hepburn-perfect than the last, or a spangly pink pencil skirt worn with a cashmere top to fend off ocean breezes).Turning up the volume for evening, de la Renta progressed from a long, cool pour of pink charmeuse, to a giddy yellow satin strapless dress covered in nosegays of silk flowers, to embroidered and embellished showstoppers guaranteed to make it a memorable night—red carpet or not.
14 September 2003
All the current talk of a return to ladylike fashion must strike Oscar de la Renta as pretty amusing. While other designers pick up and drop influences each season, de la Renta has been buffing and polishing his part-fantasy, part-practical sportswear approach for decades. Elegance is his native tongue.For fall, de la Renta's daywear took a distinctly cozy turn. He started off with plush, plum-colored cashmere knits paired with cool brown suede or cashmere flannel and sometimes trimmed with sable. He took brocade, one of the most tradition-bound fabrics in the lexicon, and cut it into jazzy, fitted little cocktail dresses. He also sent out some austerely beautiful evening dresses, several seductive variations on his signature ruffled party confections, and suits that will last through the decade, never mind the season.Where the designer was clearly having fun, though, was in shuffling together day and evening looks: de la Renta paired a taupe cashmere tank with an airy black taffeta skirt, put a chubby fox fur vest over gold silk brocade crop pants, and tossed one of his princely embellished coats atop slim trousers and a simple silk blouse. Both comfortable to wear and delightful to look at, this is the kind of elegance that only comes with experience.
9 February 2003
Front and center at life's rich pageant—that's where Oscar de la Renta wants to be. Leaving the monochrome color schemes and workaday fabrics to others, this is a designer who deals in luxury, elegance and—always—vibrant femininity.As with his fall collection, de la Renta worked Oriental influences into both his palette and detailing. His colors were so saturated they evoked a spice market: crimson red, saffron yellow, chocolate brown, mint green, pink and lavender. He placed an increased emphasis on accessories this season, adding everything from a pretty beaded bag to a chunky necklace to a toile print handbag in his signature football shape. The clothes were classic de la Renta silhouettes: neatly tailored trousers and shirts, smart silk shirtdresses and pretty, swingy skirts worn with linen tops. A sculpted, perfectly balanced boxy jacket made from cream-colored ottoman paid homage to Cristobal Balenciaga, while the gold matelassé pieces—particularly the "jean" jacket—would make a modern rajah very happy.Of course, it wouldn't be a de la Renta show without a ruffle or two hundred. Tightly gathered, limp and loose, stacked or single, they bore witness to this designer’s mastery of the medium. That's why the soundtrack—Nelly urging his listeners to take off all their clothes—was such a puzzle. If you're wearing de la Renta, why would you want to?
17 September 2002
No one would really have expected Oscar de la Renta to adopt the sober palette that's dominated the runways this week. But just in case there was any doubt, the designer announced his direction even before the first model appeared, projecting a mosaic of colorful photos taken at Moroccan open-air markets—fruits, flowers, spices—onto the stage front.There was a whiff of far-flung exoticism throughout the collection, although it was grounded in city-smart sportswear. De la Renta started with nubby cashmere sweaters, limpid ruched tops and soft wool poet-sleeve blouses, paired with tailored flannel pants and skirts in gray, moss green, taupe and black. But almost every outfit got a touch of spice via embroidery, a dusting of sequins, even a cowrie-shell fringe, along with exotic belts trimmed in coins, studs or smooth horn buttons.Beautiful, delicately decorated coats have become fixtures in de la Renta's collections, and this one was no exception: There were opulent styles, like the silk patchwork version lined with sheared mink, alongside low-key versions in black cashmere or silk twill with a light touch of embroidery or beading.De la Renta ended, as always, with a parade of great eveningwear: simple lace dresses, densely ruffled skirts and a group of glorious, diaphanous blouses with generous poet sleeves—just the thing for midnight at the medina.
12 February 2002
Oscar de la Renta began his condensed showroom presentation by distributing American-flag armbands to editors and buyers, and making sure models wore them with his outfits.De la Renta's vibrant, positive collection was focused on daintily embroidered linen dresses, printed silk camisoles and gypsy-like ruffled skirts. Dreamy silk muslin petal dresses, officers' khaki cotton jackets and a striking palm-print jumpsuit brought to mind the tropical chic of colonial Indochine—by way of the Beverly Hills Hotel. For evening, eyelet blouses were paired with big, dramatic tulle skirts and accessorized with diamond-trimmed satin sandals. A double-faced charmeuse tuxedo with a white linen blouse was strikingly chic in its simplicity."When I started designing clothes I was full of spirit and passion," said the Dominican-born de la Renta. "Today, 35 years later, that joy is still there. I am glad that I came to this country and happy to be an American."
16 September 2001
With a palette centered mainly around black and white, Oscar de la Renta offered a more somber take than usual on his frothy classics, but still provided a wide range of stylistic options for his faithful clientele.For lunch at Swifty's, there were salt-and-pepper tweed suits, gently flared skirts to the knee, and wool coats with fur collars and prim leather bow belts. De la Renta's vision of casual luxury also included cashmere and boiled wool cardigan jackets, ruffled silk charmeuse blouses and even a sexy, youthful fuchsia shearling mini. Evening took a turn for the dramatic with beaded and feathered slipdresses, tapestry-print velvet trousers and gowns, and a couple of decidedly gothic black opera coats. Some of these looks will prove overwhelming for many, but steadfast Oscar fans will still be able to find plenty of their favorite ruffled skirts and sexy halter tops.Shoe and bag fetishists will be delighted to know that de la Renta launched his signature line of accessories this season, including diamond-buckled pumps, satin slingbacks, embroidered boots and hard-frame crocodile cases.
12 February 2001
Oscar de la Renta never strays far from his signature brand of elegance, but this time around his collection felt lighter and breezier than usual. His well-established clientele will certainly go for classic favorites like the playful silk crystal pleated skirts to the knee, worn with preppy navy cashmere sweaters. Or the day dress—a summer essential—which came in a variety of styles including a chartreuse linen shift, plenty of sexy jacquard silk halters and the all-important little black number.But for many, evening is what de la Renta does best, and they will not be disappointed. Alek Wek wore a sleeveless, white silk embroidered dress that made the audience draw breath; Caroline Ribeiro closed the show with an imposing navy-blue ruche organza gown. One caveat: de la Renta also showed skimpy bandeau tops paired with short ballooned skirts, leaving everyone in the audience wondering, Are we really ready for a full-blown pouf revival?
18 September 2000
It was an easy-to-wear collection for Oscar de la Renta, who managed to turn out very relaxed pieces without forgoing his traditional feeling of luxury. Cashmere ruled the runway—showing up on colorful striped skirts, sweaters and knit cardigans. Brick, burgundy and navy coats and jackets were lavishly embroidered. There were also striking black ensembles in leather, suede and taffeta—perfect for a sexy evening out on the town. Of course, de la Renta's presentation could not be complete without dazzling evening wear—feather dresses, voluminous faille ball skirts worn casually with a sweater and iridescent paillette gowns, which closed the show with a big bang.
7 February 2000
"My first collection of the millennium celebrates female strength," explained Oscar de la Renta. "This is the first time in fashion history that professional women can dress very femininely and use that to their advantage." True to his words, de la Renta showed stylishly embroidered leather skirts in camel, pink and yellow; double-faced denim pantsuits worn with cashmere shells; and Kelly-green silk and shantung dresses. For evening, there was an array of Ottoman-inspired gowns, embroidered strapless gowns, and silk tulle ballerina skirts. Oversized jewelry added the final touch.
13 September 1999